I Am Not A Robot
by xXPlayedByLifeXx
Summary: What if Logan had gotten over himself earlier and had tried to fight for Veronicas trust and safety even though she keeps on pushing him away? Can he safe her when she's not even sure if she wants to be saved? LoVe all the way, give it a shot ;
1. Chapter 1

Ok, so I know I'm taking too long with my updates for my other stories, but I'm a senior and our teachers keep on making new homework records, so I don't have much time on my hands anyways. Aside from that, my muse is very moody. Lately she only screams Veronica Mars and Harry Potter. Since I'm already done with the first couple of chapters for this story, I figured I'd just start posting it and maybe it'll get me some nice reviews that are the only thing lately, aside from my friends, that can cheer me up in between fights with my parents and school.

**Summary: What if Logan had gotten over himself earlier and had tried to fight for Veronicas trust and safety even though she keeps on pushing him away? Can he safe her when she's not even sure if she wants to be saved? The story will go along with the show in the beginning though the timing might be a little bit different. There's actually just one major change: Duncan has officially been with Logan in Tijuana the day Lilly died, though he had come back to Neptune with his friend, but aside from him, Logan and Dick and Beaver no one knows about that. The police believes that Celeste had found Lilly.**

So I have no idea how long this story will be though I already know how it will end (which isn't a necessity with me and my stories). I also have about the first ten to fifteen chapters already planned out in my head. Aside from my muse being moody there's another thing you should know: I live of reviews, they are like my sun, my stars my anything ;) And my muse loves them even more.

Veronica Mars is definitely one of my favorite shows (only rivaled by Gilmore Girls) though I only discovered it a week ago and finished it yesterday. It really sucks that they canceled it :(

Anyways, Read and Review ;)

PS: the lyircs at the begin of the chapter kind of are the headline, they usually fit the chapter's content more or less. Oh and since I hate writing disclaimers i say it once: I don't own anything. For further elaboration check my profile. 

* * *

Chapter One

_**"Leaning over you here, cold and catatonic **_

_**I catch a brief reflection of what you could and might have been **_

_**It's your right and your ability **_

_**To become…my perfect enemy…"**_

_**(Passive – A Perfect Circle)**_

Logan was sitting at his usual lunch table with the other 09ers, to his left sat Dick, currently going on and on about some redhead that had having been all over him at last night's party. The seat to his right was free empty, something Logan was painfully aware of.

He, Logan Echolls, had always had his best friend sitting to his right, ever since he had started at Neptune High. Nowadays it was usually was Duncan Kane who occupied the seat to his right, his best friend for over 4 years now. The other 09ers were still surrounding Logan; the guys bragging about sports, money and girls; and the girls trying to get Logan's attention. Logan wasn't listening to them nor did he really see them today.

Instead of being the usual arrogant jackass he was so well known as, he was now staring across the quad to another, smaller table that was nearly isolated from the others. Only one person sat at the table, she was a big part of the reason why he hadn't touched his lunch today – thinking about it, he hadn't been able to get his breakfast down this morning either.

Veronica Mars.

Her name seemed to be haunting him today. SHE was haunting him. The thought of the tiny blonde caused very different feelings to rise inside of him. For the better of the last four years, he used to think of her as a little sister, as his best girl friend, as one of the very few people he trusted fully and as someone who just got him. But for the last half year, his feelings had made a full 180. Now he only felt hate rise whenever he saw her; anger, hurt, bitterness, blame… all emotions that came to him whenever it came to Veronica Mars.

Today six months ago, Logan's life had changed drastically. He had gone from being a reckless, semi-happy, normal (or as normal as you can be as an 09er) guy to a bitter and angry version of his old self. Today six months ago, Lilly Kane had been murdered. Lilly Kane as in his best friend's sister; As in his girlfriend; As in Veronica Mars' best friend.

They used to be a group of four; all teenagers from families who might look perfect on the outside but were messed up on the inside. Together they had formed their own family – and soon enough paired up with each other. Logan and Lilly, Duncan and Veronica. Good old times.

"Hey baby!" The sudden call, or rather the screeching voice of his girlfriend of full three weeks, Caitlin Ford, ripped Logan out of his memories.

Logan threw Caitlin a half annoyed, half polite look but didn't answer. He was angry with himself for being out of it all day;. For remembering the "good old times" several times on one day; For wishing so desperately to get back to how things used to be. He knew he was only making it worse, but it seemed like he was a masochist today.

"Why didn't you pick me up this morning?" Caitlin asked and sat down next to him on his right side on the free spot. Logan flinched and had to restrain himself from lashing out on her. So what if it had been the only empty seat left? She didn't belong there. Duncan belonged there, even though he was only the shell of the guy Logan used to know, he still was his best friend, the only person left in his life he could truly trust.

"Forgot about it, sorry." Logan said without looking at his girlfriend, not sounding sorry at all. The truth was that she was boring the hell out of him, like most girls eventually did. Sure, they looked good, the sex was awesome, especially with Caitlin, but it was nothing compared to what he knew a relationship could be like. They was nothing compared to Lilly.

A couple of minutes later, his eyes darted back over to the blonde who was still sitting all alone at her table. It seemed like she wasn't very hungry today either, since she was just playing around with her food, her face closed off. Logan thought he had seen tears glittering in her eyes earlier. A part of Logan was pleased with this sight; he wanted her to be sad today, he wanted to know that he wasn't the only one hurting -At least not the only one from those who counted.

Not that he would ever admit that Veronica Mars of all people counted for anything, but but she had been Lilly's best friend, she had been a part of their little family – hell, she had been HIS best friend, the only person he had never felt uncomfortable around even after she knew about his dad. A year ago, Logan would never have thought in his wildest dreams, that there would come a time when Veronica wouldn't sit with him at the 09er table, when she wouldn't greet him with a smile every morning when he picked her up right after Lilly and Duncan. Things had changed drastically since those times.

Logan knew very well that he was the reason why his former friend sat now far away from him and her old clique; why she had been sitting alone for the better of the last half year. After all, he had been the one who had started the anti-Veronica campaign and who had made sure that no one at the whole school would risk the social suicide it was to befriend her. Well, no one except that new kid Wallace-something. He was usually around Veronica all the time ever since the beginning of the school year. At first Logan had tried to tell the new kid that hanging around Veronica Mars was a bad idea, but Wallace had insisted on making that mistake over and over again. So Logan had had no choice other then than to ruin his reputation as well. Not that there had been much to do, hanging around with Veronica Mars was enough.

But today he couldn't spot the guy anywhere and it looked like Veronica was back to being all alone again. She deserved it though;, she deserved everything that he had done to her -Because she had managed to hurt him worse than anyone else. Even worse than Lilly's death had hurt him. When Veronica Mars had chosen her father's side over his Logan had been nearly heartbroken. With Lilly, it had always been an on and off again relationship, he was used to not being able to count on her. Sure, he had loved her, but he had always known that he was the one invested in the relationship. But with Veronica… it had been different. He had trusted her fully, with everything, his thoughts, his feelings, his fears… with everything and she had never let him down. Until six months ago when she had betrayed everything their friendship had stood for and had left their little family in order to stand by her stupid father.

Even though he had banned her from his life after her betrayal and had taken revenge on every day ever since, she still managed to get to him. At first she had gotten tears in her eyes every time when he had said something mean to her or had told her to stay the hell away from him and her old friends. It had hurt him to see her cry, but he had felt a certain satisfaction. But then she had suddenly changed overnight. She now wasn't the person he used to love anymore; she now was Veronica Mars version 2.0. Not his Ronnie anymore but Veronica-McBitch-Mars.

She fought fire with fire and had proven herself to be a worthy enemy. It had made things easier in a way, hurting her with everything he knew about her was so much easier when she didn't act like the girl he had known anymore. She wasn't the sweet, naïve and innocent anymore; she was now strong, feisty and smart. But on some days, he couldn't help but stare at her and wonder how she had fooled him and everyone else so entirely. On some days, he couldn't help but admit to himself that he wanted his Ronnie back. On those days he had to remind himself to call her Veronica. It made him angrier with her, that she made him miss her more than she missed him.

Logan frowned slightly when he saw someone approach Veronica's table out of the corner of his eye. Eli "Weevil" Navarro; Another student who didn't give a damn about Logan's ban. The leader of the biker gang had always been Logan's enemy, but since he was being friendly with Veronica, Logan loathed him even more. He didn't know what Veronica saw in Weevil and why she was acting all friendly with the loser. Why she was LAUGHING with him about something as if nothing was wrong -as if today wasn't the six month anniversary of Lilly's death. Another problem Logan had with the biker was, that he he still had the bruises from the day he had tried to confront Veronica two days ago after she had placed a fucking bong in his locker and had caused him to not only get suspended and "punished" by his father but also loose his beloved X-Terra. Weevil had come to her rescue and had punched Logan quite a few times, just because he had damaged her stupid headlights.

It just wasn't fair that Veronica got to make new friends while he was still missing her. That she learned to be strong and all closed off, giving her the ability to move on from the past and forget about everything. That she had to turned out to be one hell of an enemy.

"Yo, Logan! You coming?" Dick Casablancas called. Logan realized that the other 09ers had already finished and were starting to get to their classes. The bell must have rung already. He had been too engrossed in Veronica Mars. Logan wished he could kick himself in the ass for being such an idiot.

"Sure, I'm coming." He stood up, threw his untouched lunch in the trash, then walked up to Dick and followed him back inside the school. He looked back once more and saw that Veronica was now alone again, staring off into space. She looked so much like his Ronnie that it nearly hurt.

Looking at her now, still feeling himself drawn towards her in some crazy way, deep down he had to admit that the only person he who ever really belonged on his right side at lunch had been Ronnie, Duncan had only taken her place after his Ronnie had died along with Lilly.

* * *

A little side note, for some time this chapter was posted in an all messed up version, and I'm sorry for that but I only noticed it much much later.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow guys, you really are awesome**. 8 reviews for the first chapter in only a day, that's the best I've ever had :) Thanks so much for taking the time and though I had planned to update weekly, I decided to post this today already. See it as a little thanks for turning a totally crappy day into a not half as bad one. ;)

Responses:

**starcrazed:** Duncan hasn't fled the country, he's still there, just that he's not himself anymore due to the pills he's taking. The next chapter will be out of his POV, so you'll get to know more about him soon ;)

**Thelma:** Thanks so much for pointing the time issue out. I usually mess things up with it and only notice way too late. Hm, I now have two choices, either I'll postpone Lilly's death to... say the 3rd of March so that it fits with the next year starting, or I'll have to write things in April, in the middle of the term... I'm having to think about it, cause it's important that it's half a year since Lilly's death... I'll decide before I post the next chapter.

Anyways, I hope you like this chapter, I'm not entirely happy with it, but I'm tired of working it over again and again, so bear with me if you don't like the scene between Duncan and Logan or think it's out of character. It just needs to be in the story in some way.

Enjoy reading ;)

* * *

Chapter Two

"_**Wake up and face me, don't play dead cause maybe **_

_**Someday I'll walk away and say, "You fucking disappoint me!" **_

_**Maybe you're better off this way"**_

_**(Passive – A Perfect Circle)**_

Veronica was so sick of it. She was sick of having to deal with the past all over again every day. She had come so far during the last half year, she had grown stronger and tougher than she had ever thought she could be. She had stood by her father and didn't regret it. She had lost her best friends and had survived it. She had learned to fight and to not let anybody get to her - at least not visibly.

But she still couldn't help but be disappointed every time Logan Echolls made another move against her. Every single word he said hurt her, even though she buried these feelings so deep inside that she could convince the world they weren't there. And every word Duncan didn't say hurt nearly as much. She had seen him becoming more and more like some sort robot. He was rarely smiling and she had noticed how he and Logan had drifted apart as well. It seemed like Lilly's death had broken up the little family they had built over four years, completely and entirely.

Logan had become a complete jackass and had lost the kind side she had used to love. He hadn't shown it very often, but to her he had opened up and Veronica had seen beyond the tough façade he used to put up. She didn't doubt that he was still the guy who used to be her best friend somewhere deep down, but she was afraid that he wasn't opening up to anyone anymore, that he was closing off from the world. She knew how it felt to not be able to trust anybody and what it was like to be all alone, she didn't want that for him. But she knew that she had no choice in that matter, he had banned her from his life and had made it crystal clear every day since that their past friendship had meant nothing to him. And she was honestly growing tired of thinking about him; so she might not be able to not care, but she sure as hell would try her best to get over these stupid feelings of friendship she still somehow held against all reason. She wouldn't let him hurt her any more if she could help it.

Duncan was even worse than Logan in some way. He wasn't lashing out on Veronica and she was thankful for that. He ignored her, but she could deal with that. The thing was, that he wasn't just ignoring her, he was pretty much ignoring anyone who tried to move past the fences he had put up. Though he and Logan weren't fighting, Veronica had noticed how Logan had thrown his mate a few half lost, half angry glances and she had quickly figured out that it was because Duncan wasn't himself anymore when Logan needed him to be his best friend again. It was like the part that had made Duncan... well, her Duncan, had died together with Lilly. The old Duncan wouldn't have let Logan start a hate-campaign against Veronica, no matter what had happened between them. He wouldn't have let things get as far as they had gotten.

At least that's what Veronica liked to believe. Though a little voice in her head kept on telling her, that she had never thought he'd be capable of breaking up with her the way he did. Just ignoring her from one day to the other. The night before, he had told her he loved her and the next it was like she didn't exist anymore. This was something she couldn't blame on Lilly's death since it had happened weeks before that.

Still, she couldn't believe that it had taken her months to notice that Duncan and Logan weren't on the best terms anymore either, that it wasn't just her life that was pretty messed up.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Veronica had just left her last class and was walking towards her car. When saw that a big yellow x-terra had parked next to her old Le Baron, she knew that she was in for some more trouble. Logan wouldn't just park next to her out of coincidence. No, he must have had a reason for that. So she crouched down when she came to her car and checked the tyres and, after she couldn't find anything suspicious, she even checked the brakes. She didn't really think that Logan or anyone else from school would go THAT far, but she would rather be sure and safe than doubtful and dead. While now laying halfway underneath the car, she suddenly heard voices. Very familiar voices._

"_Come on DK, school's over now, isn't that worth a smile?" _

"_It's not even weekend."_

"_So, you're planning on actually cracking a smile this weekend? Wow, I gotta alert the media."_

"_Shut up, Logan."_

"_Right, that's the way to go DK. Don't engage in any conversations, don't you dare to feel anything but numb. And of course don't forget to take these white little happy pills in the morning, they are SO good for you."_

"_What's your problem, man? That's none of your business."_

"_You're my best friend, so it is my business."_

"_And here I thought you're supposed to have my back."_

"_That works both ways DK, and you haven't had my back once ever since…"_

"_SHUT UP! Can you just start driving already? I got things do to."_

"_Alright. But why don't you give me a call whenever my best friend comes back from the dead?"_

"_Screw you. I'm taking another ride, thanks." With that she hear Duncan walk away._

_Unbeknownst to anyone she hid out under her car until Logan had taken off too. When she emerged, she was pretty much gobsmacked and wondered how she had missed things getting this bad between Logan and Duncan. The next days though it seemed like the conversation she had overheard had never happened, Logan and Duncan hang at lunch and joked around with their friends as usual. Duncan was back to his robotic and most of the time passive self.  
_

_Flashback End_

_

* * *

_

Veronica sighed and collected her things when the bell rang. She shook her head slightly, halfheartedly scolding herself for being a complete mess all day. She knew that it was Lilly's anniversary and that she had every right to grief, but there were also people who needed her help and school that needed to be done if she wanted to get a scholarship. She had thought that she had at least not shown too much just how out of it she really was, but if even Weevil had noticed and had decided to come to her at lunch today in order to cheer her up, she knew that it was bad.

The only good thing about today was that she could be sure that Logan wouldn't try anything today. She knew that he was hurting as well and while she secretly wanted to share her pain with him and to find comfort in him like she always used to, she was glad that he hadn't shown today, or at least she hadn't seen him. She wasn't sure if she could face him today.

Suddenly she ran into somebody and all her books fell onto the hallway floor. She quickly kneeled down and started to collect them. Great, just what she had needed today.

"I'm sorry, didn't see you there." She said quickly, not looking up at whom she had ran into.

"It's no problem."

Her head shot up. She met familiar eyes and yet she couldn't see the person she had once loved in them. Duncan Kane looked like a walking corpse rather than the sweet guy he used to be. They had their eyes locked for a few moments and Veronica thought for a second to see **something** change in his look, but it was gone the moment she had seen it.

"Duncan, I-" She started, her voice barely more than a whisper.

But she didn't get any further, because Duncan just walked away like she hadn't said anything at all, like she hadn't been his girlfriend for nearly two years.

_That was the 35__th__ try on my side to reach out. And the 35__th__ time he just ignored me. It's been seven months since he last talked to me. I guess that makes me officially the fool who doesn't get the clearest message ever._

She got her things together and stood up again, continuing her way to the next class. She was tired of waiting around, of getting hurt over and over again. It was time for her to just get over it, she couldn't let Duncan disappoint her any longer. So he turned out to be someone she didn't know at all. Maybe they both were better off this way, after all chances were that he really was her brother. Maybe he was better off without her adding any more drama to his life, which was what she seemed to do to everyone she loved.

She sure as hell would try her best to let him go. To let the old Veronica, the girl she used to be finally go. There was no sense in holding on to the shreds of a person that had no place in her world anymore, not since Lilly had died six months ago.

_God Lilly, I miss you. You're not supposed to be just… gone. Can't you see how much we need you? Our little family's a total mess. I am a total mess. I've become your red satin, Lils, but it has been a hell of a price to pay.__ Didn't you say you'd be here when I'd show "my true colors"? Then where the hell are you? _

Veronica quickly entered the girls bathroom after having spontaneously ditched class and hung up an out of order sign. The minute she had thrown her bag on the floor and had reached the sinks, she broke down on the floor, crying, letting out all the tears she had held back during the last months.

_I need you._

_

* * *

_Ok, this was it for now. I should get around to put the next chapter up during the next two days or so. It's from Duncan's POV like I already mentioned earlier. These three start chapters are like the prologue to the story, just giving some insight on how the three characters feel about the story. From chapter 4 on it'll be more action, more drama, more interesting and more fun to read._ Make me happy, leave a review ;)  
_


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for the awesome reviews!

**greengirl82**: I'm usually no good at writing from people's POV, I'm more of a narrator-in-third-person kind of writer. BUT in this story and considering the characters (Logan and Veronica) I'll probably do more POV chapters for both of them. The next one's from Logan's POV the one after that Veronica's again... Thanks for leaving a review :)

**Ash Kay**: You made my day girl, it's such a long review, I think it's the longest I got so far :) :) Thanks for taking the time and yeah, I was always wondering just what was really going on inside Veronica, cause seriously, I doubt anyone's capable of just changing like this practically overnight... well more or less overnight... Anyways, I'm so glad you like it :) Hope you enjoy Duncan's POV :)

So I know the last chapter and this one are kinda short, but like I said, see it as some kind of prologue. Usually my chapters have between 3000 to 6000 words. And the next one will be longer than this, I promise!

Read, Enjoy and Review! ;)

* * *

Chapter Three

"_**We've got obsessions **_

_**I want to erase every nasty thought that bugs me every day of every week **_

_**We've got obsessions **_

_**You never tell me what it is that makes you strong and what it is that makes you weak."**_

_**(Obessions – Marina And The Diamonds)**_

"Duncan darling, don't forget to take your pills!" Celeste said patronizingly before she left the room to criticize the help, Mia, once again about the way her breakfast tasted. Duncan rolled his eyes, knowing that her breakfast would never taste the way she wanted it to until she'd finally stop being so damn worried about her weight and started eating again properly.

He poured himself some water into his glass and walked over to the counter where two little pills laid. One was round the other one had the form of a triangle. He quickly reached for the triangle-pill and swallowed it down with a big gulp of water. He then reached for the second pill, but paused before he grabbed it.

_She wouldn't have wanted this. She would__ most likely have had my head for this one._

But he reasoned that she wouldn't have wanted to be dead either. That she wouldn't have wanted to leave him alone like that in this crazy house. She being Lilly Kane, his sister. His dead sister. Today it was six months.

For every morning during the last six months he had taken both pills without giving it much thought. Sure a couple of times when he had woken up in the middle of the night because yet another nightmare, he had vowed to never take another pill – at least not one to make him forget, he knew that he HAD to take the other one against his illness. He would be downright crazy if he wouldn't take that pill. But while the second pill made him forget everything and made it easier to get through every day, it all came back to haunt him in his dreams – except for those times he took the sleeping pills too.

Aside from Lilly who was constantly in his dreams (she was usually either dead and bleeding or she was laughing at him, criticizing him for having given up and for having forgotten her), there was another person who just kept reapearing in his dreams. Veronica Mars. His ex-girlfriend, the first love of his life. His half sister.

Whenever she had tried to talk to him since Lilly's death, he had ignored her. Actually he had had ignored her ever since he had broken up with her after his parents had told him that he was dating his half sister. It just had been too much to deal with for him. The worst thing was that he still knew very well that he loved her. He still loved her more than anything else in his life. Thanks to the pills he had managed to just brush off every single one of her attempts to rekindle somewhat of their past relationship, but deep inside he had always wanted to reach out for her, to take her in his arms and to tell her that he still loved her, that she amazed him and that he wanted her back in his life so badly. He was reminded of just how badly he wanted her every night in his dreams. Especially since Shelley Pomroy's party.

It amazed him how she had started to stand up to Logan all of a sudden and how quickly she had adapted to the situation at hand, how his sweet innocent Veronica had managed to survive through the past half year. A part of him was proud of how she handled things, but there was another part of him angry with how easy she had moved on from him, from them.

While Logan had always asked him why he wasn't angry with her for betraying them and accused him of being blind, of not seeing that Veronica wasn't the girl they used to know anymore, truth was that Duncan had very much noticed all of the above. Only that he never had expected Veronica to not choose her father; he knew that Veronica had a much closer relationship with her dad than he or Logan had with their dads, she actually loved him and knew that she was loved back by him. Neither he or Logan knew much about that kind of a father-daughter/son relationship, but Duncan had known that it was the most important thing in her life back then.

He had of course too noticed how she had changed, how she had grown a backbone and had gotten tougher. He was in love with the woman for god's sake, how Logan could think he didn't notice anything new about her was beyond him. He had wondered often where Veronica took her strength from, because he knew that the girl that used to be his girlfriend would never have changed this much if Lilly hadn't died, if he and Logan hadn't banned her from their lives. He actually found himself being disappointed in her, he had never had any secrets from her and yet she had never told him what it was that kept her going, where she used to get all her energy from.

Seeing her being so entirely different, he had thought a lot about their past relationship. He had noticed, that she had always known how to make him or the others (Lilly & Logan) smile, no matter what shit they were going through. But whenever she had been down, he had never really known what to do besides taking her in his arms. She had never opened up enough to show him what made her strong or what made her weak.

_But Lilly had known it all along._

Of course Lilly had known it, she had been Veronicas best friend. He had wondered, just like many others had, why on earth Lilly and Veronica would be best friends. They were both the total opposite of one another. He had asked Lilly once, but she had just laughed at him and told him that he didn't know one thing about Veronica if he thought that she was nothing but sweet, innocent and funny.

_She knew and I didn't. Veronica opened up to her, but not to me, her boyfriend! _

Duncan's fist crashed down hard on the counter, though it didn't make much sound. He felt the pain throb through his hand and looked at it curiously. He hadn't been angry enough to show it in any way in a long time.

The worst part was though, that Veronica was moving on. That she had managed to get through it all and had turned out just fine. Sure she was different now, but there was no doubt in his mind that she was alright. She was a survivor. He on the other side was still a mess. It had taken her a few weeks to find a new resolve and he still wasn't much better six months later.

She hadn't tried once to talk to him or anything during the last two months. Not that he could really blame her, he had shown nothing but indifference towards her and he knew that at least somewhere deep down it must have hurt her. It hurt him to remember these times when the pills weren't keeping his emotions and his guilt in check. He knew that he was doing her wrong, that he had done her wrong too many times to expect forgiveness.

_Lilly would kill me if she knew how I treated her._

Suddenly he couldn't take it anymore, it was just too much. How was he supposed to get through school when he felt like this? Facing Veronica, thinking about Lilly all the time, how much he missed both of them.

Duncan quickly took the second pill and a gulp of water. Then he walked out the house and climbed into the limo. He knew that by the time he had arrived in school, he would be blissfully numb.

* * *

Ok, that was it, short, I know, but it's just a bit of insight about Duncan. He's not stopping the happy-pills just yet, but as you might have noticed, he's slowly getting there. Cause I don't know about you, but I always wondered just why Duncan suddenly, out of the blue decided to not take the stuff anymore after having taken them for months?

Anywho, I promise that the next chapter will be up soon, though probably not my tomorrow and maybe not even by saturday, cause I've barely got free time on my hands, right now I'm looking at less than six hours until I have to get up for school again ;) Sadly, even though I'm reading the chapters over and over again, I know that I'm missing a lot of mistakes. English isn't my first language so please bear with me if I've overseen anything major at this time of the night...

**Kathy ;)**

* * *

The Next Chapter, Something To Look Forward To:

- Logan's hosting a poker game and sees a video he doesn't like **at all**

- Caitlin gets what she deserves

- Ever wanted to read about if Logan has it in him to become a P.I.? Then you should press that button and tell me ;)


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"_**It's like I checked into Rehab **_

_**And baby you're my disease **_

_**It's like I checked into Rehab **_

_**And baby you're my disease **_

_**I gotta check into rehab **_

_**Cuz baby you're my disease"**_

_**(Rehab – Rihanna)**_

Logan sat in his yellow x-terra and kept watching the entrance to the apartment building across the street. He was tapping with his fingers on the wheel, impatiently wondering just when something would finally happen. In the films observing someone had always sounded much more exciting, but to be honest, it was horribly boring and frustrating. Especially when half of the time you kept telling yourself that you were crazy for even doing this.

He never would have thought that today would be the day he'd find out just where Veronica Mars lived nowadays. Had someone told him that on the night of the six months anniversary of Lilly's death he would be sitting in his car watching out for Veronica of all people, he would have laughed at the crazy person and would have called the guys with the white coats, 'cause seriously, someone was in desperate need for some help.

Yet here he was, getting annoyed with himself. Everything had changed today. He didn't even know why. Well he did, but he wasn't ready yet to admit it. It all began after school when he had Dick and a couple of guys over, playing poker. Everything had been going fine, he was winning money and not thinking too much about Lilly and why he needed the distraction. But then the "lucky babes" had arrived. Namely some hot 09er girls from school who usually showed up halfway through the poker games and were let in gladly because they were said to be "good mojo".

_Flashback_

_Caitlin sat down next to Logan and gave him one of her best seductive smiles, and damn she really had a talent for those looks. Logan felt himself smirking back, already looking forward to a very interesting night. _

"_You want in?" Logan asked her and raised one eyebrow._

"_Nah, I'll just sit here, watch and __**learn**__…" Caitlin replied casually._

"_Be my good mojo__…" Logan finished for her smirking._

"_Yo you two, done with it or do you need a room? Cause we've kinda got a __game going on here!" Sean asked annoyed and interrupted Logan and Caitlin's little… conversation. _

"_Don't worry Sean, I'm able to wait long enough to take the rest of your money as well." Logan retorted, after all he did have the most money on the table on while Sean was on the road to beyond broke._

_A__n hour and a half later there were only Logan and Connor still in the game, the other having gone broke long ago and were now fooling around with the girls. Connor threw a couple of longing looks towards his current girlfriend who was shamelessly flirting around._

"_What you say, Echolls, let's call this the last round, who has more money afterwards gets it all."_

"_Alright with me." Logan replied and a few moments later he felt Caitlin's hand on one of his legs. "I'm all in." With that he quickly shoved all of his money in the middle of the table, suddenly not caring so much about the grands but about finishing this up real quickly._

"_Damn it!" Connor cursed after they had shown their cards. Logan had won. "Oh well, what the hell. Good game Echolls." With that he stood up and walked over to his girlfriend._

"_So, now that I'm finally free, what could we possibly do to pass time?" Logan asked Caitlin and started to lead her away to his room. He didn't care that the others were still in his room, they would let themselves out. _

"_I could think of one thing… or maybe two" Caitlin said and let herself be lead away. But just before Logan had reached the door, he heard loud laughter and noticed that everybody else had gathered around his laptop._

"_What's going on there?" He wondered loudly but didn't yet make any movement towards his friends, still contemplating what was more important right now._

"_Logan, get you ass over here, you gotta see this! Freaking awesome, that stupid bitch!" Dick called before Caitlin could say whatever she had wanted to. _

"_Just one moment, Cait." Logan excused himself without another look and walked over to Dick and the other guys. He somehow had a very, very bad feeling about whatever it was that they were looking at. _

_Coming closer he could hear the sounds from the laptop and figured that they must be watching a video. It sounded like… crying? He finally got in front of the laptop (the others gave him enough space willingly, knowing that he was the leader), they were all looking anxious for his reaction. But if it was something good, then why did he have this bad feeling?_

_He found himself looking at a video of really bad quality, but it looked a lot like one of the school's bathrooms, probably made with a cell camera. The sobbing had increased and he could now see a person in the middle of the picture by the sinks._

_**What the hell…?**_

"_Is that Veronica?"_

"_That's right, dude!" Dick exclaimed mischievously as usually happy to see some he didn't like suffer. That was just Dick, he was a little bit dumb, though loyal but he could also get real petty and he didn't even know the meaning of the word 'tact'.__ "Not as tough as she'd like everyone to think, huh?"_

_Logan barely heard him, __he fully concentrated on the video where Veronica had a total breakdown in what seemed like school bathroom. Suddenly it seemed like whoever was shooting the video was leaving the stall he had filmed from and now approached Veronica. The sound high-heels made on the tiled floor was audible enough to be heard over the now quickly subsiding sobs. Veronica turned and now looked straight in the camera. Logan could see how realization that she wasn't alone set in and crept on her features. Her formerly desperate and vulnerable expression quickly changed into a tough and emotionless (very familiar) one. She wiped away the tears with the back of her hand and stood up, her head held high, facing whoever was intruding on her breakdown as if she hadn't been crying helplessly on the floor only seconds ago. But Logan did notice that her hands gripped the sinks behind her in what must have been a steel grip. He suddenly was really angry with whoever was shooting this video. It didn't look like Veronica had spotted the camera yet, but what kind of a person was filming something like this?_

_Logan wasn't sure what worried him more, that there was something that made the 'new, tough Veronica' breakdown like this or that she was still able to pull herself together just like that and where the hell she must have learned that. He couldn't help but wonder just how well he had really known her back then, cause a year ago he would have sworn that as much as he loved Ronnie, she would never be able to pull something like that off.__ Then again, a year ago, she wouldn't have had to._

_The person with the cell now paused a meter or so in front of Veronica and the picture steadied itself again after having gotten really foggy while the person had still been moving._

"_What do you want?" Veronica asked in with her usual challenging attitude._

"_Ruin your life." Logan heard a too familiar voice. The same voice he had nearly given in to minutes earlier._

"_Why? What could I have possibly done to you, Caitlin?" Veronica questioned and Logan could tell that she was as annoyed as curious. She really didn't seem to know._

"_**I**__ was supposed to be Lilly Kane's best friend. I had been since we were in diapers but then you came along and suddenly I was forgotten. She always chose you before me. YOU, of all people. You were a nothing; you were naïve, stupid and a goody two shoes. But yet you got my boyfriend, my best friend and even Logan was at your command. I swore to myself that someday, you'd pay. But there was nothing to be done about you, you had mighty protectors. Until now. You're days among us are over now and I'll make sure they'll never let you back in, no matter how often you try to mess with Logan's and Duncan's mind or how much you throw yourselves at them. You're pathetic." Caitlin finished her tirade and Logan was shocked how screeching her voice sounded when she was this hateful. Not to mention that her words made no sense at all, Ronnie would never have been capable of being as manipulating as Caitlin made her out to be. She hadn't asked him or Lilly or Duncan for anything, they had willingly done it without her asking. Not that she ever would have._

"_Oh yeah, that makes so much sense. It all comes back to me now, I'm a manipulating two-timing, boyfriend__s and friends steeling bitch, did I get everything?" Veronica asked sneeringly. She scoffed and shook her head disbelievingly. "There's one problem with your theory, Caitlin. If I really was this desperate, then why would I have __**chosen**__ to be banned from the 09er circle? Cause if you might recall, it wasn't like one day you just decided that I didn't belong 'among you' anymore. I made a choice Logan and Duncan didn't like. They even asked me to reconsider. But I __**chose**__ not to. See, my choice, my life – I'm not the one's who's pathetic here. It's been six months and you only dared now to confront me? You can't do nothing to ruin my life, you never could have and never will." She waited for a second but Caitlin had nothing else to say. Not that Veronica looked like she had expected it. The contempt she felt for Caitlin was obvious to see in her face and in her eyes for Logan and everyone else who knew her just one bit too see._

"_You can have them all Caitlin." She added, suddenly the anger seemed to have gone away just like that. She seemed more tired and annoyed than anything else. "I don't need them. I don't __**want**__ them back. The backstabbing, shallow and petty rich kids of Neptune are all yours." With that she turned around and walked away, Logan was half expecting the video to end, but then Caitlin found her voice again._

"_If you really don't miss them at all, then why do you keep watching Duncan and Logan? Why are stalking them if you are so over them, huh?"_

_There were a few seconds of silence. "__I'm not stalking them."__ Then there was a faint whisper, Logan barely caught the words. _

"_And I never said I didn't miss them."_

_The sound of a door opening and closing again was heard and then the screen went black._

"_Looks like she can cry after all. Not the robot she'd like to be." One of the guys said. Logan closed his eyes and counted silently to ten while the others laughed at the comment and added a few other stupid but mean comments. He was angry but knew that lashing out on them was no use. He had started the war against Veronica, he had encouraged all of them who had secretly disliked her to take it out on her in public. He had ruined her life. And until now it hadn't really bothered him, because he had been so furious with her. But somehow the hate he used to feel burning before had faded while watching the video. And he did even feel guilty about what he had done out of a sudden. He had been just like Caitlin; mean, spiteful and just plain cruel sometimes. To Veronica of all people. She didn't deserve this._

"_When did this happen and who else did you show it to?" Logan asked, his voice firm and loud enough to silence the others. He looked straight at Caitlin and tried to seem casual while he was still seething inside. He hadn't felt anything this strong in a long time. For exactly six months and three weeks. He had felt this angry once before… But this wasn't the time to go back there. There were more important things right now. He needed to know what had made Veronica cry like this and then he had to take care of her. Not because she was his friend or because he suddenly had forgiven her for betraying him, but because he owed her that much after being a jerk towards her and because he knew that Lilly would have had his head for the way he was treating her best friend – their best friend. _

"_Today and only to you. I brought it here because I thought you'd like it babe." Caitlin answered, sounding just a little bit unsure. Seemed like Logan wasn't doing the best job disguising his feelings._

"_Good. For your own good I'd suggest that you show it nobody else.__ Actually, I want you to delete it from your cell right now. And for everyone else, if I hear one word about it in school or anywhere else, you'll regret it." With that last warning/threat he stood up and walked over to the door._

"_What? Where are you going, babe, Logan?"_

"_That's none of your business." Logan said coldly. He didn't care about her feelings, he didn't care about her body. He just wanted to get away from this girl, not able to stay near her for another minute without showing just how pissed off he was. "Everyone, I'd like you to be gone when I get back. The party's over."_

"_But Logan, I'm your girlfriend, you can't just-"_

"_You're not my girlfriend. You're nothing." He took his jacket and opened the door. "I mean it guys, __**get lost**__."_

_Flashback End_

He had then gotten into his x-terra and had driven around Neptune a bit, trying to get a clear head. He knew that Veronica wouldn't tell him what was going on and why she had had that breakdown, no matter how sincerely he asked her. They were enemies and even if he didn't hate her anymore, he'd rather have it stay this way. He wasn't ready to let her or anyone back in. He had vowed to himself to never let her betray him again.

But he had also instinctively known that he couldn't stay out of it and not help her. He had heard that she was now working for her father as a wannabe P.I. and he could easily guess that she had pissed the wrong guys off and that she was now in over her head and probably scared. He had always thought she was crazy for trying to be a P.I.; it was dangerous and frankly no job for a girl like her. But it hadn't been his place to worry about her or give good advice.

Why else though would she have a breakdown in a school bathroom if she wasn't in some serious trouble. He hadn't seen her cry once during the last six months, except for the occasional teary eyes she had gotten in the very beginning after he had started the war between them.

So he had decided to just do it like she did. He'd follow her around a few days, find out what was wrong in her life and fix it without her ever knowing that he had saved her.

If she could play PI, than he could too. Nothing easier than that, right?

Only problem, he was really bored to hell. Maybe he should just call it a night. After all this was Veronica, she wasn't the person to go to any parties or anywhere else late at night. Back then he and Lilly always had had to persuade her with the fact that Duncan was going to be there to and all they wanted to have was some fun – and that she'd be brought back whenever she wanted to leave.

Besides, he was tired, it had been a long day. He'd pick up the watch tomorrow after school. With one last glance towards the crap she called car he started the engine and drove off, planning on taking a sleeping pill and then pass out on his bed. Sleeping pills were great against nightmares of Lilly's death and with today being her anniversary, he'd really need them.

* * *

This time the A/N's at the end ;) Thanks for the feedback so far, keep them reviews coming :) So there's the reason for Logan's change of mind, or well at least the beginning of it. Maybe it's a little bit chliché or whatever, but I actually think that if Logan got the chance to see from a outside POV and saw how Veronica did react and not just the usual lack of it. Anyways, as usual tell me your thoughts, spoil me with reviews ;) Next update'll come soon, or so I hope ;)

Kathy ;)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"_**Can we pretend that airplanes**_

_**In the night sky**_

_**Are like shooting stars**_

_**I could really use a wish right now (wish right now, wish right now)**_

_**Can we pretend that airplanes**_

_**In the night sky**_

_**Are like shooting stars**_

_**I could really use a wish right now (wish right now, wish right now)"**_

_**(Airplanes – B.o.B. ft Hayley Williams)**_

Veronica closed the door of her apartment behind her and locked it twice. After making sure that it was really locked she started towards her car where Back Up was already waiting on her. She smiled down at him, knowing that she would have taken him with her tonight anyways, even if her father hadn't insisted on her never going anywhere alone when he was gone for a couple of days. Observing potentially cheating husbands wasn't exactly the most exciting job one could think of.

For a second she paused, thinking she had just seen a yellow x-terra driving down the road, but then she forced herself to walk on casually. There was no way in hell Logan Echolls of all people would ever get lost that much that he'd show up around here. While she didn't exactly live in the slums nowadays, the 09ers and most people she used to call friends would see her apartment building as a part of the very wrong side of town.

"Come on, boy, we gotta see what kind of a dog the poor Mary's married to." Veronica told her dog sarcastically when she pulled up before the firm her suspect was working in. Mary Donnell had seemed like a really nice young woman, maybe a little bit too naïve; Veronica didn't like people who cheated, especially not if they had such nice wives. Besides, she didn't really believe in the whole marriage-thing in general. It was basically nothing else but handing you heart over to someone else on a silver platter: an open invitation to crush it and hand it back in pieces.

You might not be able to avoid heartbreak all together, but why make a bigger fool out of oneself than necessary?

She shot a few quick photos of the silhouette of the guy at his office desk then checked the clock. 11.46 p.m. She had been outside of his office for nearly an hour and he hadn't moved from his desk once. It looked like Mary was wrong about her suspicion. Veronica was nearly glad for her – nearly, because she didn't trust men in general.

Just when she was contemplating whether or not she should call it a night and maybe actually get some of her homework done and some sleep for a change, the lights in the office were turned off and seconds later the husband left the building and climbed into his way too expensive car.

20 minutes later Veronica had followed him to a bar that she found to be quite familiar though she couldn't really remember why. She must have been here once with Lilly, some of the nights spend with her former best friend were pretty foggy.

After the man had vanished into the cheap-looking bar, Veronica fished for one of her tiny bugs that looked like a pin.

What would he find less suspicious to be in his jacket pocket? "I 3 America" or "Drugs, Beer and Rock'n'Roll" or maybe "Guitar Players are modern HEROS"

_I really need to work on my supplies. But I guess with patriotism you can't do__ much wrong. At least not with some white, proper-looking, I-got-money-up-my-ass guy like this. Geez, now I'm starting to think like Weevil talks…_

So Veronica picked one of the pins and shoved it in her jeans pocket before she exited the car and walked over towards the bar, adding an extra sway to her walk. She wore a tight black top with quite some cleavage and a glittering necklace and a pair of hot pants. She suspected that she'd blend in just fine with the other girls in the bar, except maybe for her real age.

She considered herself lucky to find her suspect sitting at the bar rather than at the small booth-like tables. This was going to be a walk in the park. She walked up to the guy casually and slid onto the stool next to him.

"What do you want?" The bartender asked and eyed her warily. She guessed that he was contemplating on whether or not he should ask to see some ID.

"Hit me with something, anything. Just as long as it's strong." She said, sounding just like some desperate girl after a long day of hard work. "Please, I really need it, cause it looks like from tomorrow on I'll be out of work because my ex stole a contract I just got signed by our biggest client. I'm so dead."

The bartender looked slightly less suspicious, muttered something she couldn't make out and started to pour something in a glass. She gave him an exhausted smile while silently thinking just how easy the whole night was going so far. Too easy.

"Maybe you should spend your last dollars for something else than booze." The bartender told her grumpily and handed her a drink before walking away to serve someone else.

Veronica took a deep gulp of the stuff in front of her and barely winced when she felt the liquor burning down her throat. Damn, the bartender had really poured her something to forget. She glanced around quickly, trying to decide what strategy she'd take now. She spotted a couple that was engrossed in each other and smirked triumphantly, perfect. The poor husband who might or might not be cheating on his wife had ignored her until now, which was also very good, it made things easier. The best case scenario in situations like this was when they didn't remember her afterwards.

"Excuse me, you mind lighten up my cig?" Veronica politely asked Mary's husband and smiled while pulling out a pack of cigarettes. He turned and looked at her unfriendly but when she smiled sweetly he nodded curtly and got out his lighter. Just when her cigarette had lit up, Veronica suddenly let out a silent scream and caused the guy to flinch, looking at her for what was wrong.

"I can't believe he'd do this to me!" She whispered shocked and with tears in her eyes, completely ignoring the man and the now lit up cigarette, her eyes seemingly clued to the couple in a darker corner of the bar. The man followed her look and seemed to catch on. "In front of everyone…"

"I'm sorry." The man said when she let the first tears fall. Then she stood up abruptly, leaned with one hand against the man for support while she put some money on the counter with the other.

"Thanks, but I gotta go!" She said quickly and stormed away. When she had left the bar room and was sure to be out of sight of her suspect, she reached up to her ear where a tiny ear piece was to be found and activated the bug she had just placed in the coat pocket of the guy. She smiled like the cat who got the canary while she started to leave the bar. But just when she had exited the building, she suddenly heard a very familiar voice through her earpiece order a drink. She stopped dead in her tracks. She couldn't believe it. He couldn't be here of all places. This couldn't be a coincidence.

_So much for this night being a piece of cake._

A few seconds later Veronica was back in the bar took another quick scan and checked every table in every oh-so-dark corner this time. Finally she found who she had been looking for. She wasn't surprised to see the tall black man looking back at her with a unreadable expression on his face. She noticed that he sat alone while she could have sworn that earlier this table had been filled – if he really had been sitting alone she would have recognized him. She swiftly walked over to him, her gaze kept firm on his, just before she arrived at his table she tugged her hair behind her ear and deactivated the ear piece while doing so.

"Clarence Wiedman. What a pleasant surprise."

"Veronica Mars. Wish I could say the same." He said casually with a small smile and motioned for her to sit down. But she refused. When he looked at her as if asking what she wanted, she got angry.

"Let's get something straight here, I was not following you tonight, so you must have been following me. But now that you're here I can save myself the trip tomorrow."

"Oh, don't you tell me you wanted to pay me a visit tomorrow. What do I owe this pleasure to?"

"I just wanted to tell you that I don't appreciate people sending me pictures of my friends with targets painted across their heads. You might have scarred my mother away with threatening me, but I'm not her, I'm not going to run just because it fits your dirty business best. Stop going on my nerves or I'll do worse than just bugging your stupid office."

"What a cute threat from such a sweet girl. If I were you, Miss Mars, I'd better be careful, you mess with the wrong people. People have died for less snooping around than you have done already."

"I bet it was this attitude that got you fired from the bureau, huh?"

"And I assume it was that nosy nose of yours that got you the new additions to your photo album."

"What, you're trying to deny it? Please, that's so overdone." Veronica scoffed.

"I did not send out any pictures. Not yet at least."

"Oh and let me guess, you have no idea about the pictures my mother received either?"

Clarence just smirked at her now, not bothering to answer.

"That's what I thought." Veronica said sweetly before turning around and leaving the bar. The minute she was outside she dropped the smile. This little conversation hadn't gone entirely like she had expected. Why would Clarence Wiedman deny any involvement in the pictures she had been getting lately but admit to the ones that had been sent to her mother? Was it possible that there was someone else going after her, wanting her to think that it was the Kanes? Or did the Kanes just want to confuse her even more?

She sat in her car for another ten minutes or so and mulled over everything she had learned so far about the departure of her mother and Jake Kane, the high school sweethearts. When her cell vibrated with a text message from her father, telling her that he had landed safely in Texas, she decided that now wasn't the time to brood over everything crazy that was going on in her life. She'd better head home and get a start on listening to whatever the bug had recorded until now, so that she might be able to present Mary some results tomorrow after school. So she started the recording and started driving home. It looked like her guy was currently making phone call.

When she arrived at her apartment building she was even more frustrated and annoyed with the world then when she had left the bar. It looked like her gut had been right again, never trust men to keep it in their pants. Mary would have to face some ugly truths tomorrow and she, Veronica, would be the messenger. God sometimes she hated her job.

Just when she was about to unlock her apartment door, she suddenly felt that someone else was there behind her. She turned around quickly while pulling out her tazer, ready to defend herself. A not very tall guy stepped into the small circle of the lamp that was right next to her door. Her heartbeat slowed down a bit, but she stayed wary. While she wasn't scared, she sure as hell wasn't very trusting towards bikers.

"Thumper."

"Mars."

"What brings you here at this time of night?" Veronica asked, her voice not exactly friendly. She had always disliked Thumper, especially since he knew too much about her for her taste. She still silently cursed herself for ever buying drugs – especially from someone who went to her school. She had stayed clean for months now, but after she had been raped half a year ago, she had started doing drugs, not too heavy stuff, but she had had to force herself to stop before she got addicted. She had been on the edge for weeks afterwards, but had firmly held on to her believes and had started to put her energy into taking revenge on Logan for being such a jerk. She hadn't talked to Thumper since she had last bought something from him.

"I need your help. I'm in some trouble and-"

"I don't help drug dealers, sorry."

"Not even yours?"

"I don't have a drug dealer. I don't do drugs." She said slowly but firmly, putting emphasis on the last sentence. She had told him before to never tell a soul about the fact that she had bought drugs from him and as far as she knew he had done his part – and she had not released the tape she had which proved that he was betraying his drug supplier. It had been a good and simple deal they had had going on if you asked Veronica.

"We both know that that's bullshit. And don't start with me about this tape, if you don't help me, I'll be dead anyways." He said quickly and Veronica thought she actually heard fear in his voice. She held his gaze for a few seconds before she decided that he must be telling the truth. She sighed, opened the door and motioned for him to go inside first.

"What's the problem?" She asked when she stepped inside behind him after having thrown a quick glance heaven wards, silently praying to whoever might listen that her past mistakes would finally stop haunting her. She wanted nothing else than just start over new. She'd really like to be someone none of the 09ers knew, just some normal school girl with the usual job at a café who had no business with Clarence Wiedman or the PCH biker gang.

But there was no shooting star and no good fairy to make her wishes come true. So she just walked inside and did the only thing she could: try to figure out the mess that was her life.

* * *

Ok, so here goes the next chapter. Hope you like it.

**Oh and about Lilly's time of death, I decided to postpone it, cause I really want this story to start a few weeks into their senior year. So I'm guessing the right date of Lilly's death would then be april 3rd? Cause I'm not familiar with the vacation times in the USA, but we'd then be now in the first weeks of october, so in this story school has started already for about four or five weeks. It would round about fit with my times here in Germany.**

Anyways, don't forget to press that lovely button under this and tell me what you thought of this. I promise that there'll be some Logan/Veronica interaction soon!

_yours truly_

_Kathy ;)_**  
**


	6. Chapter 6

Another update for you! :) It's the long awaited first interaction between Veronica and Logan. Sorry that it's only friendly on one side though. I hope I got Veronica's part right, it was more difficult than I had thought in this chapter.

Responses:

Gemini Emerald Amethyst Malfoy: Cute? Wasn't exactly what I was going for, but oh well. I take what I get and as long as it's positive I ain't complaining.

Riley-the-Sadist848: Uhm, maybe. Not sure whether or how much I'll go into details with this one. The idea came to me while I was proof reading actually, and I wrote it down, it's one of the parts that I haven't fully worked out yet, though I got some ideas... Hope you enjoy this update :)

**Enjoy Reading and Review, you know the drill!** ;)

* * *

Chapter Six

"_**Watch me while I stand here, **_

_**Watch my feet, **_

_**My stance, **_

_**My Body-Language **_

_**I'm not someone to be messed with, **_

_**I'm a boss on a mission, **_

_**Know you're challenging the best here."**_

_**(We Dance On – N-Dubz)**_

Logan sat once again behind the wheel of his favorite car in the world and was watching the people passing by while glancing every few minutes towards the old, seemingly abandoned junkyard. Well, he couldn't really say whether or not if was abandoned since there was no way of seeing what was going on behind the mountains or steel and stuff, but the internet said that it had been shut down years ago. The only question remaining: If it was shut down and closed, then what was Veronica doing in there?

Up to now Logan was pretty pleased with himself and the way he had handled everything today. He had managed to get Veronica's schedule from the secretary and had then followed her after school. First back to her "home" then on to some shops doing grocery shopping and now here. Her day had seemed pretty normal and boring so far. He had expected her to do something else, more exciting, tougher after school, it just didn't fit with the new Veronica to do things his Ronnie would probably have done too. Except for, maybe, if she knew he was following her and was therefore intentionally doing boring and normal things… But then again, that was crazy, she wouldn't just let him trail her after all. She'd probably have his head and yell at him till he was deaf. No, she couldn't know anything and it didn't really surprise him. She was no Nancy Drew after all, she just wanted to be like her. He was just as good at trailing people as she was.

_No wonder she's getting herself constantly into trouble when she doesn't even notice that someone's trailing her. She really needs to stop this P.I. stuff. _

He wondered how he was going to get her to stop. He couldn't just walk up to her and tell her to do so, she'd laugh right his face. He could literally see her, first surprised then laughing then pissed off. And really, he couldn't blame her for it, after all they weren't friends anymore and it was really none of his business. Except that it was, because he didn't hate her anymore.

There was always the option of telling her the truth. Telling her that he didn't hate her anymore and that he missed her; that he wanted to go back to the way they used to be.

_Whoa there, it'll never be like it used to be. Even if she was as willing as __I am, there's no way I could trust her again. Nevertheless, I'd have to completely forgive her first._

No, he'd just stick with following her around for now, he'd help her out without her knowing and keep up appearances and there was no harm in letting her think that he still hated her. He was much safer that way and it was easier too.

Suddenly he heard the familiar sound of many engine's roaring and approaching fast. He turned around in his seat and saw five biker appear at the end of the street. Great, these idiots just had to be everywhere, didn't they?

Logan however had to take a double take when he saw them parking their bikes right in front of the junkyard. He saw Weevil stopping first and taking off his helmet, then, after having yelled some sort of orders towards the rest, he walked inside the junkyard. Two bikers followed him, the other two stayed out front. What the hell did they want in there? Veronica wasn't going to be all chummy with the biker gang now, could she? They were frigging criminals for god's sake, even this new Veronica must know that they weren't people you should be around. They were losers, they had no perspective except their bikes and jail. And yet… it seemed like these losers got to hang around the best friend he ever had.

* * *

Veronica sat on the hood of a car that had the last half completely crushed from what must have been quite a crash and watched how the big press made cubes out of more or less expensive cars. There was something beautiful to the process, all the cars that must have once belonged to the rich, maybe even an 09er from her school, in the end they ended up on this junkyard just like any other car – well if they had been stolen that was, cause officially this yard was closed long ago. The only ones working here now were at least semi-criminals, half of the PCH biker gang for example.

But Veronica knew that this was the perfect place to meet with said bikers, because no one who wasn't supposed to be watching could. The only reason she was tolerated was that Weevil had called her a friend yesterday. She now had a certain status within the bikers and everyone knew not to mess with her cause they'd have to face Weevil afterwards. Though she didn't have any illusions about it, Weevil would ultimately choose the bikers over her and his protection only was granted for this long. Currently he owed her so for today she should be safe.

The blonde shook her head hearing her own thoughts. She was thinking of Weevil as a friend, knowing that he was a criminal and she was a P.I. It wasn't that unlikely that a week from now, she'd have to investigate him. And yet she hoped she wouldn't have to, because somehow she had started to like the guy. As bad ass as he tried to be, she saw beneath that. Though she had once too thought that Logan Echolls wasn't a total jerk… And he had turned out to be a psychotic jackass who had beat up her car. Speaking of Logan-

"V, what a surprise to see you here!" Weevil's voice carried over to her and interrupted her idle day dreaming. She really must have been out of it for a few moments to have overheard the screeching of the gate opening.

"I see you got my message." She stated with a smile on her face while Weevil came closer. He smiled back and she felt immediately cheered up from the funk she had been in all day. There was really more to Weevil Navarro than one would usually think. He was a natural leader, just like Logan and some other jackasses she knew, but while Weevil did have criminal tendencies, he at least never – or rarely- went after the "good guys". His victims were those who dared to piss him or his friends off and the rich kids, nothing she had any problem with.

"Yeah, what's up with that V, you're really missing me so much?"

"Damn, you got me. I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't drive. It's horrible really." She retorted and rolled her eyes but grinned even more.

"Showing all the signs already, damn I'm getting better and better." Weevil laughed and sat down next to her. "So, what did ya really call me here for?"

"I kinda need a favor." Veronica told him and tilted her head to a side.

"What a surprise." Weevil said dryly. "But alright, what do you need?"

"Nothing major really, I just need you to go into this shop downtown and scare the hell out of the cocky vendor." She paused and saw the grin slowly spreading on Weevil's face. Yeah, she had already expected him to not be bothered much by her request. "Best would be if you took anything of his and give it to me tomorrow." She added with a mischievous twinkle around her eyes and handed him a paper. She had just thought of asking Weevil to bring her a souvenir and realized that it would make things even more fun for her tomorrow.

"What did he do to you that you're setting the big bad bikers on him? Did he cheat on you, cause seriously, if he's not completely crazy, I think he's kicking his own ass enough already…"

"Always the charmer, aren't you, Eli?" She chuckled. "No, he's being a little bit difficult. He just doesn't want to give me the information I need for one of my cases. It seemed like he didn't take me too seriously, you know, looking as sweet and innocent as I do. And frankly, that pisses me off."

"Oh, I see, big mistake on his side there, huh?"

"Exactly." Veronica agreed and smiled like a cat that was just about to trap the mouse.

"Alright, consider it done, V."

"Thanks, Eli, I really appreciate it." She said and stood up.

"That's what friends are there for, right? Besides, I still owe you."

"That's right, you do." Veronica laughed and waved goodbye before she started to walk away, her hands stuffed in her pockets and a content smile on her face.

"Oh and V, did you know that that idiot Echolls is parking outside? He wouldn't happen to be here with you, would he? Cause if he's not… my guys asked whether or not they could have some fun and it was such a boring day so far…"

"He's not here with me, but I did notice him following me around all day."

Weevil looked upset at hearing that. Veronica smiled at him, showing that everything was alright. Then she made a quick decision. It was time to have that chat she had tried to avoid.

"Give me five minutes, and then he's all yours, alright?"

"Hurry up, please!" Veronica only laughed at that very polite requested and stepped out of the junkyard through the now open gate. She glanced at Thumper who was standing with another guy next to the bikes but ignored him otherwise. To anyone else it would look like she didn't know him at all.

* * *

Logan was getting more impatient with every minute the bikers spend inside the junkyard where he knew Veronica to be. What was going on in there? He half considered going in himself, but knew that he most likely wouldn't get past the gate. Damn he hated waiting.

After about 15 minutes his eyes fell on a girl and a guy that were fighting on his side of the street on the sidewalk. Damn, for being so tiny, the girl sure did look scary.

_Just like a certain tiny blonde I know._

Suddenly someone knocked at his window and he turned around shocked and so quickly that he heard something crack in his neck. Shit.

_Talking about the devil…_

Veronica Mars was smiling down at him, her smile sadly not genuine at the fact that he was ultimately trying to help her but fake and unhappy about seeing him. For a second he wondered how he could have managed to get this hate into the blondes' eyes just at seeing him. Had he really hurt her this much without even realizing it? Or maybe he just hadn't wanted to believe that he was hurting her since she wasn't showing it…

"Logan Echolls, my, my, **my**. What a coincidence." She said sweetly, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You and I meeting here of all places. What are the odds? The world's small, you know what they say." He replied smoothly, for a second wondering just what the odds were that she really thought it was a coincidence. But since he knew that, sadly, Veronica Mars wasn't stupid he got the bill the minute later.

"Yeah, like this small." She said and held her forefinger and her middle finger just a little bit apart too stress the 'small'. "What are you doing here Logan? Why are you following me around?" And with that she turned serious again.

"I just wanted to see Neptune from another perspective. You know, I'm at the school paper and I'm supposed to write about the two sides of Neptune. The one I know and represent and then… well, yours."

"Right. Cause being a private investigator makes you a part of the slums of Neptune. Oh poor rich boy, has to go out here all alone just for the school paper. Don't you know it's dangerous with all these poor strangers on the street? You could catch something… a brain for example, and we wouldn't want you to die of shame next time you try to think and it actually works."

"Hm, you're right, I should probably leave quickly before I start stalking my ex-boyfriend. Oh wait, that's what you do. Oops."

"Aw, you know if you believed it yourself, it would be a more effective insult. You know I'm not stalking Duncan."

"Right, then why did you join the paper again? And just about every other class Duncan's in?" Logan asked, knowing that he was talking bullshit, but he wanted to distract her. Cause honestly, he had never thought about what reason he'd give her for trailing if she ever caught him.

"I did it so I could be close to you, Logan. Cause I'm so madly, head-over-heels in love with you but you just won't even notice me!" He had to hand it to her, she sure could put on a good show.

"Sorry, but I'm not going to the prom with you, I'm searching for a girl in my league."

"Oh but why not, Logan, we'd be so perfect together!" Veronica cried out theatrical. Then suddenly she stopped being theatrical, glanced over her shoulder at something Logan couldn't see because she blocked his view and turned serious again. "What are you doing here, Logan? And you'd better try the truth this time."

Something in her eyes told him that he really should better be honest with her now, cause she had a dark shadow in her eyes… She nearly looked like she was sorry or worried about something… him? _Nah, she's probably just worried about the time or something. What do I tell her now? I can hardly start with 'I realized that I don't hate you anymore and now I'm trying to help you out with whatever mess you've got yourself into.' As true as that is, I doubt she'll buy it. But maybe I can go with something more vague…_

"I'm just trying to do the right thing this time, seriously." Logan said finally. Hoping that his eyes would tell that he was sincere. She studied his face for a second and he was just beginning to believe that she believed him, when her face turned cold again.

"Well, if you want it the hard way… I tried. Stop tailing me, do yourself the favor." She said, shook her head and held her hands up in… defeat? This didn't make any sense to Logan, why was she being this mysterious?

Then she stepped away and started to walk to her car, finally letting Logan see just at what she had glanced moments ago. The five bikers that he had seen arrive earlier were now approaching his car. They were pretty much there already and judging from their expressions they didn't just want to chat with a fellow student from Neptune High. Damn it, he should have known that Veronica could only bring trouble.

"Veronica!" He yelled after her, but she just climbed into her car and drove off without looking back once. Logan stared after her for a second disbelievingly. She wouldn't just leave him alone here. She couldn't be that cold or that indifferent. Then again, she must think that he would have done the same thing in her place. A few days ago he might have…

_No, I wouldn't have left her for Weevil and his guys. I wouldn't have let her get hurt. At least I hope I wouldn't have…_

"Look who we have here." Eli Navarro's amused voice forced Logan to concentrate on the situation at hand. "How nice of you to drop by, didn't know you'd be in the neighborhood today."

"Funny thing, I didn't know either." Logan said while glancing at the other four bikers who were standing around the front half of his car now. He didn't like this at all.

"So why don't you tell me why you're following V around while you're still capable of, well, talking?" Weevil asked and leaned down towards him on the still opened driver's window.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, and if I did, I don't think you'd be on my sharing-list." Logan replied with a wide innocent smile.

"Don't play games with me, rich boy. This isn't school, there's no teacher around to save you. See, I don't like it when guys like you follow around friends of mine. It makes me very… worried and slightly impatient."

"Let me guess, you're advising me now to better answer your questions **or else**…?" Logan asked in a mock threatening tone.

"And when I get impatient people get injured." Weevil finished as if Logan hadn't said anything. Right on cue the window on the passenger's seat side was smashed in. Logan looked to his right and found himself staring at a very satisfied looking biker, Felix something if he remembered correctly.

"Can you see me shaking in my boots?" Logan asked sarcastically then turned back to Weevil. "No seriously, did you practice this or something? You say 'injured' he starts demolishing? Like a very well trained dog? Cute gang you got there, Paco."

"If I didn't know you're just too stupid for your own good, I'd say you have some balls." Weevil said and shook his head. "Stay away from Veronica or next time, you won't get off this easily."

"What, that was it already? The big bad bikers just want to chat after all?"

"No, that was what you've seen of me for today. While I usually enjoy encounters like this, right now I've got somewhere to be and don't have time for giving you what you deserve." With that he started to walk away while his 'friends' closed on Logan's car and Felix was opening the door on his side.

"Oh _you_, as if we don't all know that you're just scared of telling Veronica that **you** beat me up."

"If I remember her words correctly she said something like 'five minutes then he's all yours'. I think beating you up was more than implied. Don't take yourself this seriously Logan, you're nothing to me but another rich kid. I doubt you're much more to Veronica nowadays either." Weevil climbed on his bike and took off, not looking back once to where Logan was given a black eye – just for starters – by a grinning Felix.

* * *

Let me know whether or not you think that I've overdone it a bit on Veronica's (or any other) parts, I'm not really happy with it right now after reading through it again and I'd appreciate your thoughts...

yours truly ;)

Kathy


	7. Chapter 7

So here's the next update. First off, thanks to all of you who reviewed and put alerts and favorites on my stories, you guys rock!

**Last chapter, some of you thought that Veronica was too harsh, that she wouldn't leave Logan alone with the PCHers. I see where you're coming from and therefore added a few lines this chapter, so that you all should be satisfied. But never the less I'd like to remind you that in this story, Veronica isn't like she was in the first season. She's tougher if possible and had less time to heal after Lilly's death. Wallace hasn't been there for more then a couple of weeks and while she's getting there, she's not fully trusting him - yet. **

**The drug thing happened a month or so after Lilly's death when Veronica just couldn't handle it anymore and ended up taking some light drugs when she had the opportunity. For a couple of weeks she kept taking them but then she realized where she was heading and stayed clean from then on. But it still shows how hard she had fallen back then and what it must have taken her to get back up again. **

**Long story short: This is only half a year after Lilly's death and Veronica is totally closed off and not ready to let anyone in again. So I'll get to the point where you'll recognize the Veronica Mars we know from season 1 (the marshmellow Veronica Mars ;)), but until then bear with me when I write her a bit tougher than you'd expect. That doesn't mean I don't want you telling me all about it though ;)**

**Responses:  
**

_**Ash Kay: thanks again for the long review :) :) :) you're getting extra cookie points for that xD Like I wrote above, Veronica is currently shutting everyone out, because Walllace is still pretty new in her life... Glad you enjoy all of this so far, and yeah, I'm having fun too mixing Thumper and Veronica's deal in the story, both depending on the other to keep their mouth shut. I can tell you right away though, that Clearence and Thumper have nothing to do with each other. While I might add some new twists, the major story arch is still Lilly's murder investigation. **_

Anyways, **enjoy reading and review ;)  
**

* * *

Chapter Seven

"_**Are you trying make me sad? **_

_**Or to keep me on my toes, **_

_**Not the best you've ever had, **_

_**But you say I'm pretty close,**_

_**Moonlight or sunshine , **_

_**Morning or night time, **_

_**I choose to be alone, **_

_**To be my own!"**_

_**(My Own – The Perishers)**_

It had been a couple of hours since Veronica had left Logan alone with the bikers. She had felt a tiny bit guilty about just leaving him there without a chance to escape, knowing that the bikers like to beat people, especially rich arrogant kids like Logan, up. Just like a couple of days ago when Weevil had punched Logan a few times in order to get him to apologize for damaging her car, she had winched at ever hit Logan had had to take – she knew that his father beat him up on a regular basis and she had seen how badly bruised her was. Maybe she should have reminded Weevil of their deal again. After the incident at the beach, she had told him that under no circumstances she appreciated Weevil beating the crap out of Logan. He hadn't understood why she was so concerned with Logan, but had – after a great deal of begging on her side and many reminders that he still owed her– promised to go easy on him. To not beat him unless it was inevitable.

In other words, she was pretty sure that Logan hadn't been beaten up like most of the other victims of the PCHers; still, she felt bad about leaving him there. Veronica sighed and made a mental note of going to school very early next morning – just in case she'd have to cut someone from the flag pole before the rest of the students started to show up.

It hadn't been a very busy couple of hours since she had left the junkyard. She had met with Mary and told her that her husband was cheating on her and had promised to get the money shot as soon as possible. After that she had gone back to the office and had started filing some stuff that had been lying around on her desk. She had gotten a couple of phone calls, mostly messages for her dad about some cases he was working on. She had eaten in the office and studied a bit for the English quiz tomorrow. She still had about five minutes until she could expect another client. She had already hung out the 'CLOSED' sign but hadn't locked the doors.

_I still can't believe I'm helping a drug dealer getting back his stolen drugs. I used to have something like standards. But damn it, how can someone be stupid enough to start dealings with the Fitzpatricks? That's literally a scream for a death wish to be heard. _

She sighed and stood up, bringing a couple of notes she had taken during the day for her dad to his desk. There she was, the good daughter doing just as her daddy had told her. He should really get her a pony someday. She smiled at that thought. It was a secret joke between her and her dad. Back when he had still been Sherriff and everything had been better in many ways, he had always promised her to get her a pony when they'd move out. Cause they had already had bought a new house with a big garden, only that they never moved in there. Two days. Two days after Lilly Kanes' murder they had planned on moving in there. But with finding her best friend dead at the side of the pool, everything in her life had changed. She had never gotten around to take a look at the home she had been so eager to move into.

She suddenly heard the door open and close again. She threw a glance on her clock and saw that five minutes had passed, it was exactly 8pm.

_Someone's being right on schedule._

"So, finally ready to tell me which church I'm supposed to bug?" She asked loudly and annoyed. Thumper really did have some nerve. First showing up at her apartment, pretty much forcing her into helping him and then he didn't even tell her in which church the exchange (him giving the money to the Fitzpatricks after having sold their drugs to some kids at school) was supposed to take place. Well ok, so she couldn't really blame him that he had taken the first chance to get away when Leo had knocked at her door last night, the bikers didn't do so well with the cops, but still the more often they met, the more likely they were to be seen by somebody and she really didn't want to risk that. Especially since not even Weevil had any idea – neither about Thumper dealing behind his back nor about Veronica having bought from him in the past and helping him out now.

"You bug churches? Isn't that, I don't know, like a sin? Veronica Mars in hell, now that's a sight I'd pay for. I'd love to see you annoy the hell out of the devil himself."

"Logan?" Veronica asked perplexed. She quickly walked out of her father's office and found herself face to face with no other than Logan Echolls. She noticed that he had a blue eye that he hadn't had the last time she had seen him. She'd have to have a word with Weevil. Fortunately he didn't seem to be injured badly in any other way, at least in none she could detact.

"That's the name I'm going by. Were you expecting someone else?" He smirked and Veronica didn't like it at all. She usually didn't like meeting him outside of school, even less than meeting him in school. Not that there weren't times she enjoyed their witty banter, but talking to him usually ended in her being disappointed or even hurt. For Logan there seemed to be always new lows, like for example involving her mother. She of course could have easily fought back with bringing up his father, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to be that cruel just yet. That was the difference between them, to her their past friendship still meant something, even if he was a total jerk.

"I wasn't expecting you, if that's what you're asking. I know it must be a shock, but you're not welcome everywhere."

"Ouch, that really hurt my feelings, Veronica."

"Therefore you need to have some first."

"Ah, so that's your excuse? He's got no feelings so he won't mind being beaten up by my buddies the bikers." Logan stated, his voice somewhat strained.

"What does it matter if I do mind it or not? It's not like I told them to go after you." Veronica shrugged innocently.

"Right, so you haven't been intentionally blocking my view and didn't warn me about them coming after me." Logan scoffed.

"Just like you didn't follow me around all day for some nonexistent school paper project. Please, as if you'd actually write an article yourself." She replied coolly, not willing to let him talk her into feeling guilty. Ok, so maybe she already felt guilty, but he couldn't know that. "Talking about it, why **did** you tail me?"

"You know, you really make no sense at all. You set me up for your buddies and I'm already thinking you've finally crossed the line to the evil side, and then, no five minutes after your BFF Weevil leaves and it all really began, your buddies suddenly stop beating me and are gone before I realize what was going on. Strangely I don't believe that they just changed their mind. And if I remember correctly one usually gets more than a black eye and a couple of light bruises after having an encounter with the PCHers." Logan said and stared at her so intensely that Veronica had to look away.

_You can't make any sense of me? Welcome to the club. Do you think I like it that deep down I still don't hate you? Do you think I understand why our past friendship still means something to me, when it so clearly doesn't to you?_

"I wouldn't know since I never had such an encounter. But if you say so, I'll take your word for it, oh wise one. Sounds like you should be thanking your lucky stars." Veronica said coolly. "If you got nothing else to tell, I've got work to do and I'm not in the mood for small talk." She added when Logan just silently stared at her.

"I told you, I was trying to do a good thing. I was trying to help you." Logan suddenly said, just when Veronica had thought he must have gone either mute or crazy.

"Help me?" Veronica echoed before she started to laugh humorlessly. "You? Trying to help me? You're the jackass that spread more rumors about me than anyone can count. You made it your mission to ruin my life and take away my friends. You **beat up my car** with a jimmy and that's just last week."

_And you've let someone rape me. _

She stopped for a second to get her anger under control again. She hadn't intended to lose it here and yet she could feel tears coming when she thought about how utterly betrayed she had felt when she had woken up that morning, knowing that Logan had been there the night before –as had Duncan- but hadn't helped her. No, she couldn't believe that he wanted to "help her" now, even if she wanted to. "If you're not trying to help me jump from a cliff, I'm not buying it."

"Alright, so I've been a jerk and little bit harsh lately, but seriously Ronnie, I'm trying to make it up to you. I know that you had a breakdown in the bathroom in school yesterday and I figured that you must be in some serious trouble. I just wanted to see if I could help you and since I knew you wouldn't tell me what was going on, I-"

"So what? You heard someone say that Veronica Mars was crying her soul out in the bathroom and suddenly you had a change of hearts? You shouldn't believe everything your little girlfriends talks about, Logan." Veronica cut him off dismissively. If Logan hadn't known better, he would have believed her that she never had cried in her life. "Besides, the minute you start an I-hate-Veronica-Mars campaign, is the minute my life is nothing of your business anymore, at least as far as I'm concerned. So for whatever reason you're here, just do us both a favor and forget it."

"It's not a rumor. I saw it." Logan insisted and ignored her attempt to provoke and distract him.

"You saw it? That's funny, 'cause how can you see something that didn't happen?" Veronica asked dryly and cocked an eyebrow at him. She knew that there was only one person beside her who knew the truth and she'd be damned if she now admitted to it in front of Logan of all people.

"Please, Ronnie, just stop denying it already. I saw it on video, Caitlin recorded everything with her cell." Logan tried again, hoping that somehow he could get her to see that he was being sincere about this. Her resolve seemed to falter for a whole second, but then she had gotten over her surprise and the fight face was back on. She even seemed more angry than just a few moments before. Logan sighed secretly, he really did put his foot in his mouth a lot today. Veronica Mars did that to him, she just always managed to get under his skin.

"If I were you, I'd make sure that no one ever gets to see this video, or else-"

"Oh my god, can you just stop it for a minute? I already made sure of that of course. I'm no monster, you know? I'm here because I want to help you. I know we haven't been on best terms lately, but we used to be friends, you loved Lilly just as I did and she'd want us to-" Once again he didn't get to finish because Veronica cut him off.

"Don't you start with me about what Lilly would want. If you really think that she would have wanted you to treat me like a leper, you're crazy. Or maybe you've just never really known her at all. I honestly don't care anymore, because you made it clear that our friendship meant **nothing** to you. So don't go and act like you're suddenly the good guy. I hope for you that you really made sure sure that the video stays out of the public, cause if it pops up on the net, you'll be on top of my list and trust me, that's not a place you want to be." Veronica finished icily, her face closing off completely at the mentioning of Lilly's name. It had been over six months now and she still couldn't talk about it, especially not with Logan.

"You just can't believe the truth even when it's shoved right into your face, now can you? God, you really got some trust issues."

"Gee, you got me all figured out. I wonder where they've suddenly come from." She raised her eyebrow as if asking him if he really wanted to go there with her. To her surprise he gave in instead of giving some smart ass answer.

"I know, damn it. But our friendship did mean something to me, a lot actually. You've been one of the best friends I've ever had." He admitted. She didn't look very impressed. Though at least she wasn't mocking his words either.

"I'm trying here, alright?" Logan added sounding frustrated and desperate, he threw his arms up in the air, showing that he was getting to an end with his patience as well.

It made Veronica wonder just what ulterior motives he had for coming here, there was no way he suddenly wanted to make amends, but it sure had to be something very important to him, or else she knew he wouldn't bother. He hated her. She had accepted that simple fact long ago. It was right up there with the fact that the sun would always rise again in the next morning. Just the way it was. He must really think her stupid if he tried to fool her about his true feelings towards her.

"No, it's not alright. I don't care whether you're trying or not, 'cause it doesn't really matter. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not sitting around pining away for the great friends I used to have. Like I told your equally arrogant and assuming girlfriend: You gave me a 'choice' and I didn't choose you, deal with it, cause I've long since moved on. I don't regret it for one minute, so why don't you just go back home to your family and your friends, you really fit right in with them, Echolls."

Logan looked at her shocked and hurt. She knew that he hated his family. And if there was one thing he knew about Veronica, it was that she rarely used someone's last name. She had once told him years ago that she didn't like being called Mars and therefore extended this courtesy to pretty much everyone, even the people she disliked or those who called her by her last name. She really had to be pissed off to call him Echolls. It had only happened once before and back then she had at least not been pissed at him…

_Flashback_

_Long Before Lilly's murder  
_

_Logan was sitting in his pool house playing video games. Or well he was sitting down as good as he could and playing wasn't that easy either. His father had been in a really bad mood last night and hadn't let Logan go for nearly an hour. There was no oh-so-little area on his body that didn't hurt __except his face. That was the one part his father usually left alone, after all he knew that explaining a black eye raised suspicions and if someone then saw the bruises all over his body, it would possibly shatter the picture of the perfect Echolls family, something that of course had to prevented at all costs. _

_Though last night, Aaron hadn't been able to control himself very well, Logan knew without looking in a mirror that there was still a faint red hand on his left cheek. The upside was that he wouldn't have to go to school for a couple of days and that he would be left alone for at least the same amount of time. The downside __was that he couldn't really leave the pool house and sitting, as well as sleeping, wasn't all that easy when your whole body was hurting at every contact it made with the stool or the bed._

_Logan sighed. He had been happier earlier when he had convinced Duncan and Lilly to just go to school like usual and then go on that weekend trip with their parents instead of looking after him. He had told them that he had a cold coming and that it was nothing major. Neither of them knew just what was going on exactly; Lilly and he, had been fooling around a bit but weren't really together yet so she hadn't seen the bruises yet either. He didn't want to think about how angry she'd be with his dad once she knew._

_But while he was safe from being made, he also was bored out of his mind. He didn't dare going back to the main house yet because his father was probably still home and there was no way to predict his mood. While Logan didn't think that he'd beat him up again, he still wasn't ready to take the risk when every breath he took hurt. _

_Suddenly he was ripped out of his thoughts when someone knocked vigorously at the door of the pool house. He glanced over his TV while pausing the game and then froze shocked when two grey eyes met his. Two very upset looking eyes. _

_Damn it, he hadn't thought that Ronnie might just not buy his story. He had told Lilly to tell Ronnie, but he should have known better. Ronnie wasn't someone you could lie to easily. He should have thought of a better excuse for her. But aside from the shock and slight fear, cause he knew without a doubt that there was no way she wouldn't find out what was going on now, he also felt relief. There had been many times he had just been about to tell her the truth. She was the only person he actually wanted to tell. Especially ever since he knew about her mother being an alcoholic._

"_Ronnie, hey." He said and smiled when he opened the door. He tried desperately to act like everything was ok; like his right arm wasn't bandaged under his shirt because his father had accidently sliced it up__ from the elbow to the shoulder. That would make a nice scar, though the cut wasn't too deep so maybe he'd be off the hook of explaining it to people every time he wore a t-shirt.. _

_She looked at him suspiciously and only gave him a small smile. He knew that it was because she knew something was wrong rather than because she wasn't happy to see him too. _

"_Hey." She said softly and walked inside without waiting to be asked in. "I brought you your homework." She added and dropped a pile of paper and stuff on his messy desk. She knew that he didn't clean up or had some sort of system, so she just dropped it on the last free space she could see. He had a feeling like she would have dropped by anyways, even if there hadn't been any homework. Though he should have known that she'd definitely come if there was some, after all she actually cared about her grades and made her homework too. _

"_Figures." He murmured._

"_What?" Veronica asked and turned her attention back to him after she had taken a quick look around his room. It looked like she hadn't spotted anything out of the ordinary._

"_Nothing." Logan said quickly and smiled even more. _

"_Soo… What's wrong with you?" She asked, not bothering with any more small talk. That was his Ronnie, cutting right to the chase when she was worried. _

"_Uh, Ronnie, I was actually just trying to get some sleep… I thought Lilly told you that I think I'm coming down with a cold?" He lied but winced at how stupid it sounded even in his own head. He silently scolded himself for even believing for one second that Veronica would buy this. She knew him too well for that._

"_Right, I see just now how pale you look. And I didn't know that you're sleeping in front of your TV nowadays. I mean I know you boys just love your video games, but seriously, there's got to be a line somewhere and for me it'd be right before sleeping in right in front of the screen."_

"_Alright, alright, I get it, you can stop. I'm admitting to everything, annoying blonde one." Logan sighed and interrupted her before she could go on with her rant. He knew she was intentionally annoying him and that she wouldn't stop mocking him until he'd finally tell her the truth._

"_Finally. You know, you could have just started with the truth…" She said and let herself fall onto the bed. Logan nodded resigning and walked over to the now triumphantly grinning girl._

"_Look, I-" He started, having no idea how to tell her the truth. He knew he had to and he was partly glad about it, but he didn't know what to say. How did you tell someone that your own father beat you up on a regulary basis ever since you were four? How did you tell someone that until a couple of years ago, you hadn't even known that daddy was doing something wrong?_

"_Oh my God, Logan's what happened to your arm?" Veronica suddenly asked tonelessly. Logan followed her gaze and saw that he had to change the bandage since there were now blood stains on his shirt. He sighed heavily, looked one last time at Veronica, then he stood up and took of his shirt. He waited for the scream to come and slowly started to change the bandage with his back towards her, not wanting to see her face.  
"Your father did this, didn't he?" Was all Veronica asked after a few moments of silence. Logan turned around again, surprised and glad that she wasn't pitying him and that he didn't need to explain anything. It seemed like she had picked up on more than he thought she had. He nodded shortly. She didn't say anything else and just took in his maltreated body with her eyes. She slowly reached out with one hand and took his right hand that he had extended in order to put on the new bandage in her small but warm hand and squeezed it reassuringly. In this moment Logan knew that this was the person he trusted the most in the whole world, he knew that he'd never be able to put his gratefulness for her reaction in words._

* * *

"_I think you should go now, Ronnie. I doubt my father will like it if he finds out you've been here today." Logan said after a few hours that they had spend talking about everything but his father. He had barely noticed how time had passed and he felt like he'd owe Veronica for the rest of his life, just because she had stayed with him and made him smile and even laugh in his situation._

"_But won't he find out anyways? From your mom or from the help?" She asked and frowned. Logan couldn't help but think that she was cute when she frowned like this. _

"_Yeah, he probably will. But I'll tell him that you just stopped by for homework and didn't see anything." He said and sighed, knowing what she would say next._

"_He'll be angry with you, right? Because I've come here." _

"_Yeah." Logan said after a few moments, knowing that he couldn't get around admitting the truth here. "But I'll handle it, don't worry about that."_

"_But you shouldn't have to handle it, Logan. You just shouldn't have to. And I won't leave you alone here knowing that he might just break a few or your ribs tonight because I dared to visit you."_

"_There's nothing you can do, Ronnie. And you can't tell your dad. Don't forget, you promised me not to tell anyone." Logan said quickly, trying to make sure that Veronica wouldn't go and try to help him and get herself and her father into trouble._

"_But I can't just leave you, knowing that he'll be home soon." She said quietly and looked positively lost. Nearly as lost as he had felt this morning. _

"_Ronnie, I really appreciate it, but you'll have to. You can't stay here. Not tonight, or it'll only be worse." Logan reasoned just as quietly after a minute or so had gone by._

"_Ok. I'll go. But you'll come to me first thing tomorrow. I don't have school so I'll be there and if you come, we'll stay in together at my place. You can tell your dad that it had been planned for a couple of days already and that you're staying overnight. My dad's at the office all day and night anyways, some tough cases he's working on and mum… well I doubt she'll have anything against you staying over."_

"_No Ronnie, I can't, it's not your problem and you shouldn't have to take care of me-"_

"_Logan, I warn you, if you say another word, I'll beat you up myself. I'll always be there to take care of you. In fact, if I find out that there'll be one time from on that you don't come to me right afterwards if your hurt, then I'll tell my father. I don't care what I promised earlier, this is my condition. I want you to come or to at least give me a call, is that clear Echolls?" She demanded and looked angrier than he had ever seen her before. _

"_Okay."_

_Flashback End_

"I guess I deserved that." Logan muttered defeated and then he turned around and walked away, knowing that this must be how Veronica had felt when he had mentioned her mother towards her. He still remembered how he had teased her about her mother being an alcoholic in front of his friends, even if it only had been indirectly. He had felt guilty right afterwards, but of course hadn't been able to take it back once it had been out. She had just ignored him and it had made him even angrier with her back in the moment. But now he respected her for it.

He left the office and walked over to his x-terra, not really paying attention to where he was walking. Until he bumped into someone.

"Pay attention, white boy." The Mexican said annoyed and quickly walked on. Logan watched him go straight into Mars Investigation and wondered if that was the guy she had been expecting. He seemed so familiar.

It took Logan until he was half way home to realize just where he knew the guy from. He was one of Weevil's biker friends. He knew that because he had bought drugs from him once, shortly before Shelley Pomroys party last year. He silently wondered just what Veronica was getting herself into. She couldn't possibly be into drugs though, right? She might have changed a lot, but she had always loathed drugs.

Logan sighed, knowing that just wondering wouldn't get him anywhere. He needed to find out what was going and he was now more determined than ever that he wouldn't stop trying to help Veronica, whether she wanted or not. He owed it to her.

* * *

Well there you go. It was a long chapter, over 5000 words! I hope you liked it even though it didn't go too well for LoVe. But Veronica will be acting less hateful soon (some major LoVe moments coming for chapter 10 or 11). Not that she's anywhere near friendly just yet, but she'll get there, promise! Oh and in the beginning of the chapter, I added a little explanation for the whole "Did you get me a pony?" thing between V and her dad. Maybe I was the only one wondering, but I figured it must have been some inside joke. Personally, I really liked writing about Logan and Veronica pre-Lilly's death, cause I really love the friendship they must have had. Hope you enjoyed that little flashback as well!

Kathy ;)

_**Review if you're:**_

_**Not happy with the way the conversation between Logan and Veronica ended.**_

_**Curious what's going to be next with the Thumper-case.**_

_**Dying to read the next chapter in which Logan will give Veronica a ride since her car has a unforunate flat and in which Veronica is being civil to Logan - at least at the end - and makes a peace offering.**_


	8. Chapter 8

First off, I wanted to thanks everyone who has put this story on alert or on favorite lists and **who left a review, you really make my day!**

That said, I'd like to share that **Pigy190** is my **new beta** for this story and she's really **awesome** and you should check out her stories ;) I'm going to repost the first, now beated- chapter today and the rest will follow eventually, it's just that I'm really swamped with school and there are too many exams right now, so that I don't have much spare time. Being a senior's stressful, if you know what I mean ;)

**Anyways**, back to this chapter, Weevil has been arrested for credit card fraud after he confessed to get his grandma out of jail, Veronica's out to find out who's responisble. She has found out about Caitlin being in the Neptune Grand and has just confronted the clueless Logan - and believed him that he wasn't involved.

Hope you like it!

**Enjoy** reading and **Review**!

* * *

"_**All of the moments that already passed **_

_**We'll try to go back and make them last **_

_**All of the things we wanted each other to be **_

_**We never will be **_

_**We never will be **_

_**And that's wonderful, and that's life **_

_**And that's you, baby **_

_**This is me, baby **_

_**And we are, we are, we are, we are **_

_**we are, we are free"**_

_**(Try – Nelly Furtado)**_

Veronica was camping out in one of the stalls in the girl's bathroom. Her girl's bathroom. This time she hadn't put on the out of order sign though, she just wanted to have some privacy. After the slightly embarrassing talk she had just had with Logan Echolls she was hitting another wall with her investigation of the credit card fraud Weevil was currently in jail for. She didn't believe that Weevil's grandma did it – nor that he himself was the criminal here. She might have considered it for a few moments because of the evidence that was pointing his way, but while she had learned to only trust what she knew, she never had really believed that Weevil would do something like that.

Fraud, it just wasn't Weevil's style. Besides, she considered him a friend and he had said he didn't do it. If she didn't want to lose another friend, she'd have to believe him. At some point she'd have to start trusting people again to not betray her in the end. Her guess was that he had confessed to get his grandma out of jail. For her there was only one option, she had to find out what was going on.

So right now she was waiting for the text massage of a friend of her dads who had promised her to get right back to her after he had run the number she had send him. The number from the bill of the Neptune Grand. But at least she now knew for sure that Logan hadn't done it since he had seemed genuinely clueless, it relieved her in some way. Not that anything major had changed between her and Logan, after their 'talk' in her dad's office things had gone back to normal. Well as normal as they could be after everything that had happened.

Logan was ignoring her, but left her alone and didn't pull any pranks. He didn't even mock her every time they came across each other. He was behaving similar to Duncan, except that from time to time she couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched by Logan. He wasn't stupid though and had looked away every time she had tried to catch him red-handed – except for once. Once he hadn't looked away nor had tried to act like it was nothing. He had just kept on gazing at her with this penetrating stare and she had quickly felt more than uncomfortable. After that she had tried to avoid him and had done a pretty good job considering they did go to the same school. The only thing that still annoyed her was that somehow Logan happened to show up everywhere she did. At the beach, at school functions and whenever she had an article to write somewhere public in Neptune.

Suddenly she heard two people enter the bathroom, it didn't take her long to recognize the voices. Caitlin Ford and Meg Mannings. Caitlin was Logan's girlfriend and currently the only lead she had on Weevil's case. Whoever had been in that hotel room with her had stolen the credit card of Logan's mum.

Meg Mannings was one of the few 09ers that wasn't half bad. She was quite a nice and very in school involved girl with a good reputation. She actually used to be on Pep Squat with Veronica and Lilly back in their days. Of course, Meg had continued and was now the head cheerleader. She was popular and one of the 09ers and even though she had been friendly to Veronica, she still lived on the other side of the town and that was something that made it impossible for Veronica to consider her a real friend.

"So did you hear what happened to Duncan and Julia last weekend?" Caitlin's high voice filled the room. Veronica could literally see her, applying new makeup and looking all divine while doing so.

"Julia and Duncan? Right, didn't they have some sort of date? I think Julia told me about it." Meg said, sounding thoughtful.

"Yeah, they were driving back to Neptune in Duncan's car and then suddenly out of the blue this police car shows up and they have to stop at the side of the road. Claiming that there's been some speeding tickets from November third and that they have to impound the car. Duncan had to call his father who then came and picked the two up. Duncan said that it wasn't his tickets, but the officer wouldn't believe him. Turned out it were Lilly's or something. Anyways, Jake Kane made it all go away, but I doubt Julia and Duncan had much more fun that night."

"Poor Julia, she's been after him for forever." Meg said and her voice didn't sound anywhere near as spiteful as Caitlin's did, though she didn't seem very sad for the other girl either. Veronica decided that while listening had been very interesting, after all she hadn't known until now that Lilly had gotten a speeding ticket at the day on her death, she didn't need to listen any longer. She was fairly certain though, that Lilly had not gotten any tickets before the carwash. But hadn't she gone straight home after that? And as far as Veronica knew there were no traffic cams between the car wash and the Kane's residence. So where had Lilly been and when?

Suddenly her cell vibrated and ripped her out of her thoughts. There was only a name when she opened the text message.

_Now look who we got there. Unbelievable. Caitlin, Caitlin, what have you been up to behind your boyfriends back?_

She stood up from her hiding place and walked out swiftly and over to the sinks.

"Heard the latest gossip?" Veronica asked without glancing at the two girls while she washed her hands. "The Neptune Grand is the greatest place for cheating on your boyfriend. It's really 'in' nowadays and it's perfect too since they keep the surveillance only for two weeks." With that she smiled sweetly at Caitlin and walked out of the bathroom. "Oh and the honeymoon suite's supposed to be really awesome."

* * *

"Oh someone really does have some sense of humor." Veronica said loudly and smiled at the guys across the parking lot sarcastically. They were laughing and pointing fingers at her.

"Yo, everything going smoothly, Verrrrronica?" Dick Casablancas' voice carried over the laugher. "Or did you have a rough night- uh I mean day?"

"Oh Dick, you're such a charmer. But you should know all about my night – and my day, you're always right there beside me. Never leaving my head, constantly in my thoughts…"

"Finally seen that you've been in love with me all along, huh?" Dick called back, not the best response, _but then again, this is Dick we're talking about..._

"Yeah, I just can't resist your charm and your quick wit." She turned her back on him, suddenly tired of it all. She had to get to Weevil's grandma and with a flat tire that would take more time than she had planned for it. The second flat tire of the last weeks, damn they really didn't get any more imaginative with time.

She kneeled down beside her car and inspected the damage. Yup, the spare tire was needed. Good thing she already had some experience on how to change tires. Last time had only been a few weeks ago.

"Flat?" A roughly familiar voice asked, she didn't bother to look up.

"Just as god made me."

"So, are you always this persnickety?" Troy Vandergraff questioned and got down next to her.

"Sometimes I get even persnickety-er."

"Well here, I mean, let me help you." Troy said and reached out to take the tools she's been helding. After a few moments of hesitation she hands it over.

"So, you still haven't heard it?" She asked while watching him working on her car. He throws her a questioning glance over the shoulder and cocks an eyebrow. "We're not in the same circles anymore Troy, it's been some time since you last came to visit over summer break. You must have heard that siding with me is social suicide."

"You're right, some time has gone by and still I couldn't forget about you." Troy said with a grin. Veronica gave him a skeptic look. He turned serious. "Alright, what I know is that when I see a sexy, sassy and smart girl, I'd like to find out for myself if the horrible rumors are true. Which I doubt from what I've seen so far."

Veronica nodded and smiled genuinely, without any sign of sarcasm or bitterness which was a rare sight around school. Troy grinned back and turned his attention back to the car.

"Hey, Veronica. Need a ride?" Logan Echolls' voice interrupted the moment Troy and Veronica were just about to have. She looked up surprised and wary. There he was in his yellow X-Terra, looking over, smirking casually as if there was nothing wrong with this picture. Except that everything was.

Veronica opened her mouth to give him some smart ass "piss off" reply, but then stopped herself. If she was honest, she wasn't only pretty annoyed by Logan's sudden change of hearts and the constant following her around, but she was also beyond curious to find out just what was behind his odd behavior. What better way to find out than taking a ride with him? A little one on one time to either find out what was going on or to at least scare him off for good.

"Hold up a second!" She called over to him then turned to Troy. "Look, would you mind if I take off? You don't have to do the works anyways, I'll get my dad to get it." _Or I'll just ask Weevil once he's out of juvie._

"No, it's no problem, I'll just put everything in the trunk." Troy insisted though he looked not too happy with Veronica's decision. "Just… take care of yourself, alright?"

"I- sure. I will." Veronica smiled and walked towards Logan's car. She wondered for a second while she got in on the passenger's side if maybe Troy had been trying to warn her. But from what? Logan's evil master plan? So Logan might be cruel sometimes, but he wasn't one for violence She wasn't scared of getting in the same car with him – she was more scared of letting him charm her. Not that he would manage that nowadays, but the probability of that was higher than that he'd actually hurt her physically.

They pulled out of the parking lot in silence. "Where to?" Logan asked after a few minutes.

"The Navarro's house. You know where that is?"

"No actually, but I'm great at taking directions." Logan replied and grinned at her, reminding both of them of better times where they used to joke around. Their banter had been going on all the time when they were friends, in a way it even had after Lilly's death – only more painful, hurting, mean and hateful.

"Oh I can remember someone telling me **all** about that." Veronica retorted good naturedly, thinking of how Lilly had been going on and on about him when they had first started dating and, well, getting physical.

"What do you want at Weevil's house? Isn't he in juvie or something?" Logan asked after a short time of comfortable silence. Both of them had been lost in memories of better times, not willing to break the short lived peace they had going on. But while Logan hadn't intended to get into another argument, he could see that he had said the wrong thing the moment he saw Veronica's face get hard again.

"He's in juvie alright, for a crime he didn't commit." She said angrily and looked away from Logan out the window. She was angry about the injustice of it all, but she was also worried about what Logan would do once he found out the truth. He had always had a jealous streak.

"Please tell me that you're not still thinking I did it! For god's sake, I like Mrs Navorro, she's always been nice to me, why should I want to do that to her?"

"Because you knew Weevil would turn himself in to get her out of jail?" Veronica supplied sarcastically. No, she didn't believe it, not since she knew just who Caitlin had been in the Neptune Grand with, but she thought that Logan was off better not knowing. And if he had to find out, she didn't want to be the one to tell him.

"You don't really believe that?" Logan asked, sounding shocked.

"Maybe."

"Whatever." Logan said angrily and silence settled in again. This time it wasn't comfortable at all.

"Look, Logan," Veronica started after minutes of dead silence had passed except for her telling him to take a right turn or a left turn. "I do appreciate you being less of a jackass for a change. I really do." She tried to read his face, but except for cold anger she couldn't find anything. "But you can't just expect me to forgive and forget." She added finally. It was a point that was obvious in her mind. She hadn't expected him to just forgive her for siding with her father, even if she didn't really have a choice. But he shouldn't have gone after her the way he did. Well, she probably would have somehow forgiven him even the last months of hazing and hate, but she couldn't forgive that she was raped at a party he had been at. Even if it wasn't directly his fault, she just couldn't get over it.

"Yeah right, you're Veronica Mars, the poor victim. It's not like I'm the only one to blame here! You turned your back on me and Duncan when you supported your father with his stupid and downright crazy accusations. As if Jake Kane would ever have murdered Lilly." Logan exclaimed, his hand gripping the wheel harder when he remembered the rage he had felt at what had happened back then.

"I didn't turn my back on you, Logan. You did. You made me choose between you and my dad. **My dad**, Logan. He's been always there with me, even before I knew you. HE has never failed me once and he loves me. And I love him. I trust him, he wouldn't have accused Jake without valid proof."

"So you honestly believe that Jake Kane, the man who was like a father to us all, killed his own daughter?" Logan asked disbelievingly.

"No." Veronica sighed heavily. "I don't really believe it."

"What?" Logan asked sounding surprised and confused. "You… don't?" Veronica looked at him and caught him glancing at her. She laughed at his surprise.

"What did you think? I know Jake as well as you do, as nothing but a great and really friendly man. I never knew what he did with Celeste though…"

"But then why…?" He didn't finish his question and Veronica's laugh turned bitter.

"Why what? Why did I choose my dad if I didn't believe him? Why did I let you hate me for doing something I didn't really do at all? Why did I let my life be ruined when I didn't even believe in it, when denying my dad would have been not only easy but the truth?" She asked and scoffed. "The answer's unbelievable easy. Don't think I didn't too wonder about it sometimes, but it always comes down to the same thing. I love my dad and I trust him. I could never let him down or leave him alone and point a finger at him just because everybody else does and it would make things _easier_." She stopped herself before she could rant on. "Like I said, I never regretted it not for a second."

Again it was silent in the car. Logan didn't know what to say. Back then he hadn't thought much about Veronica's reasons and about how she felt; he had only seen that she was stabbing him, his best friend and the family of his girlfriend in the back. That she betrayed him. She hadn't bothered correcting him, knowing very well what he was thinking, but then he couldn't blame her, he didn't give her many chances to do so. All the while she had only stayed loyal to her father.

"Veronica, I'm-" He started but she didn't let him continue.

"Stop here." She ordered him firmly and he did so right away. Before he knew it she was already leaving the car. She turned around and stuck her head inside again before she closed the door. "I don't need to hear your apologies, Logan. I know you're sort of sorry now, I'm even starting to believe that you actually are. But 'sorry' doesn't change anything. Why don't we just… move on."

"Move on?" Logan echoed, not liking where this was going, not at all. Though he couldn't really say why, after all this was exactly what he wanted, right? Making peace without getting close enough to get hurt again, right?

"Yeah. I don't need you as my enemy. I'd like to live in peace at school – or well as close to peace as they'll let me." She chuckled. He wasn't sure to whom he referred, the headmaster and the sheriff (it was no secret that her locker was constantly searched) or the other 09ers who had helped him spread all these awful rumors.

"Why don't we try to, I don't know, start over?" Logan asked before he could stop himself. He didn't even know where the words had come from.

"Start over?" She repeated incredulously. "Logan, the only way we could start over is if hell freezes over. We're not in the same circles anymore. You're the leader of the 09ers and I'm Veronica Mars. There's no place for starting over and honestly, I doubt it would work anyways. Let's just settle for leaving each other alone, we're both better off that way. I'd like to settle for not hating change our ways again just when things are starting to work out?" With that she pulled back and closed the door behind her. Then she walked up to the small house without looking back once. Logan watched her ring the bell and go inside after Mrs Navarro had opened her, then he drove off, his mind swirling from everything that had happened so far.

So maybe Veronica was trying to push him out of her life for good, he still would try to help her. He had vowed it to himself and to Lilly. And maybe somewhere along the way he could prove to her that there still was a chance for them and that he really was sorry. Somehow, during the drive from Neptune to Eli Navarro's house, his goals had changed. He didn't just want to help her, he wanted his friend back. No matter what risks he would have to take, he'd fight for her this time. He'd even fight her if he had to.

First thing on his agenda now was what he had been planning to do before he had spotted Veronica in the parking lot. Finding out just with whom Caitlin had been at the Neptune Grand, because he hadn't been there with Caitlin but she obviously had been with someone- Veronica hadn't sounded like she was unsure about it. She said she had proof that Caitlin had been there. The only question left in his mind was: _With whom is the bitch cheating on me?_

_

* * *

_Some of you might be confused that Logan's still with Caitlin after that video, but it's more the fact that he hadn't yet had the time to break up with her than that he's changed his mind or something. Don't worry, they'll be over after the next chapter.

_Tell me what you think; whether you liked it, hated it, whatever... ;)_

_Kathy ;)  
_


	9. Chapter 9

Next update, yay. I haven't even started the next chapter yet and since I've got a physic exam next week, I won't have much time this weekend, what I'm trying to say is that it's most likely I won't be able to keep up the weekly updates, sorry. But this chapter's longer than the last ones, so there's at least something good, hm?

This chapter deals with the credit card fraud and I've taken some scences completely from the show (or better from the script on twiztv (dot) com).So here comes my theory as to why Logan lets Chardo walk away and the title of this chapter are the first lines of the awesome Veronica Mars Theme Song ;)

Enjoy Reading and Reviews are as usually highly appreciated.

Responses:

**Ash Kay:** Yeah, I thought that it was strange too. I remember how Veronica once tells Meg that she isn't programmed to just forgive the people who have treated her the way the 09ers did. And yet she's surprisingly willing to forgive and forget with Logan and that way before the hotel scene and everything. thanks, good luck to you too, the only good thing about being seniors is that **the end** is only months away, for me 7 months to be exact ;) xD thanks for the constant reviews :)

**And to all of you who wanted Caitlin and Logan to be over:** You'll like this chapter xD

* * *

_**"A long time ago **_

_**We used to be friends but I **_

_**Haven't thought of you lately at all **_

_**If ever again**_

_**A greeting I send to you **_

_**Short and sweet to the soul I intend"**_

_**(We Used To Be Friends – Dandy Warhols)**_

* * *

Everything had come down this moment, the whole day had. Here he was standing in front of a guy he despised, holding a note from a girl that meant a whole lot more to him than he was willing to admit and he had to decide just how important revenge was. Was he willing to let the guy his girlfriend had cheated on him with just go like that because Veronica Mars asked him to? Or would he ignore the first friend-ish thing she had done so far, the first favor she had asked him in a long, long time in order to beat up the guy and start a war with the PCHers?

Logan looked back down on the message Weevil had handed him. It was without a doubt Veronica's handwriting.

**Logan, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Cait****lin, because I knew when you gave me that ride. I never really believed you did it, I just didn't know how to tell you who did. I know I got no right to ask you this, but you know me, I'm still asking. Please let Chardo go, let Weevil and the guys take him. Trust me, he'll get what he deserves. I know you're angry with him and with Caitlin, but think, this is what she wants. Don't do her the favor of going through so much trouble because of her. She's not worth it anyways. She's not worthy of you.**

**Ronnie**

He sighed. She had signed with "Ronnie". How was he supposed to not care? Just yesterday he had sworn to do everything he possibly could to win back Veronica's friendship, here was his first chance to prove himself and he was torn between his jealousy and his vow. From the moment on he had gotten Caitlin's phone he hadn't thought about much else but get this Chardo and beat the crap out of him.

* * *

A few hours earlier…

Logan walked into the lunch area and quickly spotted Caitlin at a table nearby filled with other 09ers. She was deeply engrossed in talking to Troy Vandergraff. Logan's grip on his lunch tablet hardened when he saw how Caitlin batted her eyelashes at the blonde. She couldn't possibly be cheating on him with Troy, could she?

Besides, Troy didn't seem to be as much into it anyways, Logan guessed that it was because he was after Veronica. It was ridiculously obvious every time he tried to chat up the tough blonde. Logan had always enjoyed seeing her brush him off; he didn't think much of Troy. The boy called himself Duncan's friend and was yet going after his ex. Friends didn't do that. Not that Duncan did much Logan could call him a friend for nowadays. He actually didn't even seem to mind that Troy was trying to get Veronica to go out with him. Logan frowned at the thought of his best friend; he just didn't get Duncan anymore nowadays.

"Hey dude, over here!" Dick Casablancas called and ripped Logan out of his day dream. He turned his head and saw Dick waving with a slice of pizza in his hand. Next to him were Beaver and Jack, on the other side of the table was no other than Duncan. Seemed like he had finally decided to show up at school again.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Logan asked when he dropped down next to Duncan, ignoring his best friend.

"Beav here is bragging about his lead in FBL, told him to can it, cause I'm not having the lead and yet I'm having real millions and real chicks. Speaking of which, I think Maddison looks particularly needy today. I caught her staring at me three times! Maybe I should go over there and help her out of her… misery."

"She's glaring at you, man, not throwing you lustful looks." Beaver said angrily to his brother, obviously not appreciating the constant digs against him.

"And you'd know the difference how?" Dick asked, still staring intensively at Maddison Sinclair who was sitting next to Caitlin, talking to some jock of the basketball team.

"Guys, I'm hungry. Let's go and ask the girls whether they want to order with us?" Dick, Beav and Duncan agreed with Jack and stood up.

"You're not coming?" Duncan asked when Logan didn't move.

"Nah, I'm good here." Logan shook his head.

"Ok, then you're officially in charge of your girlfriend's purse." Duncan said and handed the purse to Logan with a grin that lacked the lightness Duncan used to always have – before he went on the happy pills.

"Thanks." Logan replied sarcastically and didn't bother to tell him that Caitlin's days as his girlfriend were more over then ever. After that video he had wanted to end things with her anyways and just hadn't found the time yet. But if she was cheating on him, she was dead to him.

When Duncan was gone, Logans eyes fell on Caitlin's phone that was in the open purse. Suddenly he was pretty happy about having to sit his girlfriend's purse. Caitlin was a typical 09er girl and therefore did nothing without her cell. There wasn't anything one could know about Caitlin Ford that one couldn't learn from her phone, some said.

Logan palms the cell and looks at the 'Call Records' while keeping a wary eye on Caitlin and Troy. He runs down a list of names/numbers:

LOGAN

619-555-0133

DAD

619-555-0128

619-555-0169

MOM

CINDY

619-555-0134

BRIDGET

619-555-0152

619-555-0149.

"Who's she calling at one in the morning?" Logan muttered and quickly hit redial. He continued to observe Troy and Caitlin as he waited for an answer.

"Ah, hey baby. Calling me during the school day, that's-that's daring." A male, accented voice answered. Logan held the phone to his ear, saying nothing but he stood up to look around, trying to spot the speaker, which wasn't easy since a lot of students were using their phones around him.

"Baby? Hello? Baby? Ah, you want to play the silent game." The guy at the other end chuckled and Logan clenched and unclenched his fist while looking around more frantically. "All right, baby, later we'll play a tickle game if you want. "

Logan finally spotted him. It was Chardo Navarro.

"That's cool baby, I'll just talk. I know you like it. I miss you mama. I can't wait to see you." Chardo keeps on talking, not noticing the death glares Logan sends him.

Logan cuts off the call. He laughs, humorlessly, then stares back at Chardo who was just stepping back inside the school building giving his phone a weird look, probably because he thought that Caitlin had just hung up on him.

* * *

Veronica was deadly tired and about as upset. Her talk with Mrs Navarro hadn't exactly gone like she would have loved it to. The old lady had already known that Weevil was innocent and that Chardo was guilty. But she had chosen not to tell the police and to encourage Weevil to take the fall, because unlike Weevil Chardo would have gone to jail, not to juvie.

It had taken Veronica a great deal of her persuasive powers and the fact that Mrs Navarro hated Caitlin and hadn't known for what Chardo had used to stolen credit card to make the elderly woman see that she had to get Weevil out of juvie. Mrs Navarro had made her promise though that she'd go and try to talk to Chardo first, only if he wouldn't turn himself in she would go and clear Weevil.

It wasn't like Veronica didn't understand Weevil's grandmother, she loved both Weevil and Chardo, but Veronica didn't get how she could just let Weevil take the fall without even telling him what was going on. She knew for sure that Weevil would be beyond pissed once he found out what was really going on.

Hopefully he'd forgive her though for thinking that he had done it. Well, she hadn't really thought that he had done it, but she had let herself consider the possibility which must have seemed like a betrayal to Weevil. They were friends after all.

"Oh, what's gotten into him?" Mac asked and ripped Veronica out of her daze. For a few minutes, she had even forgotten where she was and that the girl with the blue hair was walking next to her, talking about some new thing on the internet. Not that she didn't like Mac, she had the potential to become a very good friend and it was nice to have one of those for a change – aside from Wallace. But sometimes Mac just "nerded off" and Veronica couldn't follow her even if she tried.

Veronica followed Mac's curious glance and sighed. "Oh no." Logan Echolls was walking, no rather storming through the school hallways flanked by his 'big buddies'. He seemed calm and determined on the outside, but Veronica knew him better than that; he was furious. She knew the signs, had seen him getting all jealous and angry with Lilly many times before.

_Seems like he knows. Damn, I really don't want to be Caitlin cause once he's calmed down and is done with Chardo, she'll be on his bad side and for __a 09er that means nothing good. Not that I don't think she deserves it, after having taken that video she's on the top of my list anyways, but still… Oh damn it, Chardo! It must be hard to turn himself in after being beaten to death._

Veronica whirled around and took a turn left while Logan and his buddies walked to the right. She didn't bother to say 'bye' to Mac, there was no time to lose. She had to find Chardo before Logan did and she had to get him out of Logan's way just long enough to have a conversation with him. Then she'd have to make sure that he'd get to the sheriff's department without any incidents. Great.

_One thing at a time, Veronica. Just find him first, then talk to him. You know his schedule, Logan doesn't, so you should be able to get to him first._

She spotted Chardo on his way to English, relieved she quickly walked over to him then started running when she saw Logan appear just behind Chardo. She quickly pulled him into the bathroom, away from Logan. Just before she vanished into the room too, she glanced at Logan and for a brief moment their eyes locked.

Veronica had later on no idea what Logan must have seen in her look; she for one wasn't sure what she had felt at that moment. She had been angry with Logan for being so predictable and for playing right into Caitlin's hand. Because Veronica knew Caitlin well enough to know that in the end she had planned for Logan to find out about the affair and to get all manic on Chardo. She just got pleasure out of making others miserable and Logan 'fighting for her' was just a plus.

But Veronica had been sorry for him too, though she knew that he couldn't love Caitlin, she thought that he deserved better. Logan had once been a decent guy and had been played with often enough – by Lilly most of all. Veronica loved Lilly, but she couldn't deny that Lilly had been cruel from time to time. Never to Veronica of course, but to just about everyone else. Just to name a few persons: Logan, Duncan, Jolanda,… Veronica wasn't very proud of herself when she thought of how she had treated Jolanda and some other things she had done for Lilly out of pure loyalty.

_Why d__o I only notice all of this after her death? Why did I hide from the truth? But then again, I'd probably do it all over again if I could get Lilly back for that. If she'd be alive again._

"Watch it little girl." Chardo said and forced Veronica to concentrate on the present rather than the past. She welcomed the interruption, she really didn't want to go anywhere near Lilly and the influence she used to have on Veronica while people where around. It still hurt to think of her, but to think of her faults and what Veronica had done – or hadn't done – it was just too much to handle.

"Confess, it's good for the soul." She told Chardo, staring at him angrily.

"What?"

"Moron says what."

"What?" Chardo asked again confused and totally caught off guard. Veronica smiled coldly. These boys were just to easy.

"You're busted, Chardo, do I have to spell it out for you?" She asked, tired of playing games.

"Yeah, why don't you?" He said annoyed by her behavior.

"All right. So one day, you go to pick up your grandma at the Echolls' house and she asks you to take out a bag of trash and there they are in front of you, virgin, high-limit, pre-approved credit card applications. Just phone in the confirmation code and start spending. Then you use Logan Echolls' family credit cards to take out Caitlin Ford in the manner to which she's accustomed. Gourmet meals, five star hotels, limo rides. But the best part about it… is that your cousin Weevil takes the fall for you. So you're promoted."

"I didn't want that to happen. Weevil's like my brother." Chardo claimed upset. Veronica figured that he probably didn't like hearing what an ass he was. He wasn't a bad ass like Weevil or even Logan who did what they wanted and didn't really care about what others thought or how it looked. They were too confident to be as intimidated as Chardo would be in a couple of minutes.

"Your _brother_'s out picking up trash on the highway." Veronica retorted to his weak statement. If that was the way he treated his brothers, then it was no surprise Weevil was as tough as he was.

"You know what? It's killing me, okay? But you see, I got a plan." Chardo defended himself, getting more and more fed up.

"I'm all ears."

" Caitlin and me. We're gonna run away." Ignoring Veronica's laugh he continued. "We are and once we're gone, then I'll write a confession, I'll send it back. They gotta let Weevil go then." He finished and Veronica just stared at him for a second, wondering if he really believed his own words. Caitlin Ford? Running away with a biker? Did he even know who he was talking about?

"Chardo? Caitlin Ford is never gonna run away with you." Veronica said less hostile and with a trace of pity in her voice. He really seemed to believe it, poor guy. This was even worse than doing everything just for kicks; he had actually been dumb enough to fall for Caitlin Ford of all people.

"You don't know her." Chardo said dismissively, not wanting to listen.

_But you do? _Veronica shook her head. This was getting better and better – and more pathetic with every minute.

"Oh, I know her. She's a thrill seeker. Doing you was like doing the Dew and that's all it was." She said and watched Chardo more closely, hoping that she could somehow make him see the truth.

But Chardo just shook his head and walked over to the door. Veronica sighed. Was nothing ever easy nowadays?

" You can't go out there because Logan knows and he wants your head on a stick." She told him slightly patronizingly as if he was just a child with crazy ideas.

"I ain't hiding, am I?" Chardo asked and looked at her challengingly. She held his gaze for a few moments before she looked away and crossed her arms in front of her chest. This was a losing battle.

"What are you going to do when Weevil finds out?" She asked quietly, not sure whether she should tell him that she had already talked with his grandmother and that it only was a matter of time until Weevil would find out.

"How's Weevil gonna find out?"

"Oh, he will, trust me." Veronica reassured him, annoyed with his stupid behavior. "You should turn yourself in."

"I ain't going nowhere without her." He sniffed and if Veronica hadn't thought just how messed up all of this was she would have rolled her eyes at his stupidity. "Caitlin and me, we love each other." Chardo walked over to the door and was about to exit.

"So tell me why every time I see her, Logan Echolls has his hands all over her."

Chardo pauses with his back to Veronica before wrenching the door open and exiting the bathroom.

Veronica shook her head sadly before she pulled out her cell and dialed a number. After the fifth ring someone picked up.

"I just talked to him. He's not gonna turn himself in. I'm sorry. Yeah, I'll meet you at the station." She ended the call as she left her inofficial "office" and started wondering how she could possibly prevent the inevitable fight that would ensue once Weevil was out of juvie.

Because the way Chardo had acted, he would do something stupid and run right into Logan's arms. While Veronica assumed that Weevil would be pissed at Chardo, she also knew that he wouldn't let his cousin get beaten up by the 09ers. She might be able to talk Weevil into not provoking an unnecessary fight, but how was she supposed to make Logan give Chardo up, just like that? Even if he was less of an jackass lately, the rage in his eyes she had seen earlier was nothing to joke about. His jealousy really was Logan's biggest weakness.

* * *

Logan stopped in his tracks, his eyes fixed on the girl's bathroom door where the tiny blonde had just stepped into. For the first time since he had realized with whom Caitlin had been cheating on him, he actually stopped to think.

While he was pissed that Veronica had managed to save Chardo –at least for now- he quickly realized that it might not be such a bad thing to postpone things. If he beat Chardo up in school, he'd get busted for fighting and his father would probably get angry again and take it on himself to punish his disobeying son. Something Logan wasn't very keen on.

Logan nodded at his buddies and they walked away when the bell rang, giving him strange looks but didn't say much else –they didn't know much about what was going on anyways. Logan had only told them that they'd beat up Chardo Navarro and they hadn't asked why.

"Cait!" Logan suddenly called when he noticed the familiar blonde walking not too far in front of him. She stopped and turned around, giving him the usual seductive smile, obviously expecting to be now taken somewhere more private. "Come here for a second?"

"Sure, babe." Caitlin replied and walked over to him. Logan would have loved to tell her that she should better never again call him 'babe', but refrained from doing so. He could play her boyfriend for another few minutes until they'd be somewhere alone. He led her away into a empty classroom.

"Ok, Caitlin, we have to talk."

"Talk?" Caitlin echoed surprised and a little bit disappointed.

"Yeah, about us." Logan started. "See, I don't think we're working anymore. We're just… too different."

"What are you talking about?" Caitlin asked confused. Logan smirked at her. She would so regret ever having looked at this biker the wrong way.

"Yeah, you obviously like shagging with losers and I despise the slut who give it up to those bikers. I believe you know them more intimately, Chardo Navarro, the name ring any bells?"

"I have no idea-"

"Well that's too **bad.**" Logan interrupted her, not longer disguising the disgust he felt for her. "Cause we're going to your house now and you'll text your special friend to come and meet you there. And then I'll take care of him." He gave her a look, clearly telling her that if she didn't do as she was told, she'd regret it.

* * *

Back to Present...

So here he was now, holding a piece of paper in his hands from Veronica, who was once again trying to save Chardo from him. What was her deal with this guy? And what did she mean with "trust me, he'll get what he deserves"? He deserved to be beaten up until he could never sleep with other people's girlfriends ever again and he deserved to get this treatment by one else but Logan.

"What's it gonna be, now?" Weevil asked and stared at Logan curiously. He hadn't expected Logan to actually give the whole thing a thought. Especially not just because Veronica Mars asked him to. Not that Weevil had read the note or anything, but what else could she have written?

She had asked him to hand this note to Logan when he found Logan and the rest of the 09ers with Chardo – after that she had told him where to search for his cousin. He had thought that she was crazy to even consider the possibility that Logan Echolls would just let Chardo walk away without a fight. He had told her that too, but she had just said that if Logan had kept his promise to never lie to her, then there wouldn't be a fight as long as Weevil didn't provoke it.

Weevil knew Logan for a long time now, especially since he had had that affair with Lilly, and if there was one thing Logan was infamous for, it was his jealousy. It had been the reason Lilly had gotten so fed up with him – at least that's what she had told Weevil.

"You can have him." Logan suddenly said quietly. "But I get one last punch."

"Sure, alright." Weevil answered without hesitating a second. He was surprised alright, but he knew that he'd want the same in Logan's situation. No, scratch that, he wouldn't let Chardo walk away like that. After all, Logan couldn't know that Weevil didn't really plan on saving Chardo from all the consequences.

"I'd want the same at the very least." Weevil said with a shrug when Logan looked at him curiously, because he had agreed this quickly. Logan nodded grimly and walked around the car back to the other guys, Veronica's note still in his hand. He clenched the hand with the paper to a fist and punched Chardo square in the face with all the strength he could muster. The biker fell straight backwards to the ground. The other 09ers cheered and the bikers started yelling angrily but didn't do anything since Weevil gave them a warning look.

Logan looked over at Weevil in silent understanding and then walked over to his car. "We're done here, guys. Let's go." He said to his friends and then started the engine. While driving away, he ignored the questions from his friends and watched in the mirror how Chardo was given a bike and drove away. Satisfied Logan noticed the red blood coming out of his nose.

If nothing else, he knew that he and Veronica had both taken a step towards being friends again; that she had wrote that letter and signed with Ronnie, it was something she wouldn't have done if she didn't still feel the same connection he had started to rediscover. No one else would have been able to stop him in his jealous rage, no one would have gotten him to listen and really think about what he was doing – no one but Veronica. He was going to fight her fighting their connection every step of the way; he'd erase the past as much as he possibly could.

* * *

Meanwhile elsewhere …

Veronica laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling, a frown on her face and a hard look in her eyes. Next to her were three pictures.

Picture No. 1: Lilly's room the night of the murder – a photo she had taken out of her fathers safe a few nights earlier – the shoes Veronica herself had doodled on tossed on the floor

Picture No. 2: Lamb holding up the evidence found on Abel Koontz' house boat weeks after Lilly's death

Picture No. 3: Lilly laughing and singing, smiling into the traffic cam two hours after her supposedly time of death

She hadn't gone five minutes without glancing at that last picture since she had left the sheriffs department with it earlier. She had been on Lilly's case for some time now, but aside from the fact that Abel Koontz couldn't have killed Lilly – or at least there was no evidence to prove it since Lilly's shoes had only gotten on Koontz' houseboat AFTER Lilly's death - she hadn't made any progress.

When Veronica hears a knock on her door she sits up and looks at the door. Keith comes in and smiles at her, not seeing that she was subtly covering the pictures with her blanket.

"I was thinking about ordering take out. Chinese anyone?" Keith asked, seeming to be in a good mood. No surprise though, after all he had just gotten back yesterday after catching that bail jumper.

"Chinese." Veronica repeated slowly, as if to try it out. "Tastes good to me." She added with a smile.

"Alright, then." Keith said and left the room. Veronica stared at the closed door for a second. She kind of hated to snoop around behind her fathers back, especially concerning the Lilly Kane matter, but she knew that he would never let her in on this investigation. If she hadn't taken a look into his safe after he had lied to her about why they had dropped the Jake-Kane-case, she still wouldn't know he was still looking into the whole matter.

Making a sudden decision Veronica stood up and reached the for the phone.

_Let's see whether Koontz will accept a visit from a girl from his hometown doing an article on his story for the school paper. _

_

* * *

_So I tried to write the scene between Eli and Veronica where she gives him that paper, but somehow it just didn't really work for me and didn't fit with whereever I put it, and the only really important thing, was that Veronica wrote that message to prevent the fight as well as for some kind of test, whether or not Logan had told the truth about wanting to start over and whether their friendship meant enough to him. Though she wouldn't admit that last part yet.

So, Logan and Veronica are still not back to being friends, but they're getting there and in chapter 11 there'll be a LoVe moment - kind of. At least things will then change for the better for them. At least that's what I've planned for now. So be patient^^

_yours truly, _

_Kathy ;)  
_


	10. Chapter 10

Hey guys. First off, I'm so sorry for the super long wait. I've been dealing with a massive writers block. And some personal problems. I tried writing a lot, but it was never any good and very frustrating. But I finally got myself together and finished this chapter and got around to upload it. The next one's already half way finished, so the next update should hopefully be within the next week.

This Chapter follows the episode Like A Virgin, you know the one with the purity test and all that stuff. I've changed the timeline a bit and added one or two new scenes. There's no Logan/Veronica interaction in this chapter, but in the next chapter there'll be lots of it. Originally this chapter and the next were supposed to be one, but I split it because it would have gotten to long otherwise plus I didn't want to make you wait any longer.

Enjoy reading!

* * *

"_**You can say what you want about me **_

_**Wanna do what you want to me **_

_**But you can not stop me **_

_**I've been knocked down **_

_**It's a crazy town **_

_**Even got a punch in the face in LA **_

_**Ain't nothing in the world that you keep **_

_**me from doing what I wanna do **_

_**'Cause I'm too proud, I'm too strong **_

_**Life by the code that you gotta move on **_

_**Feel excited for yourself **_

_**and got nobody no way"**_

_**(Paid My Dues – Anastacia)**_

Veronica sat in her father's office, the Lilly Kane file on the desk in front her, right next to her laptop in which she had by now copied most of the facts out of her dad's file. For once she was not worried about being caught by Keith, since once again he was gone for a couple of days, following up on some leads for an important case. A couple of days had gone by since she had send out that request to see Abel Koontz and she hadn't heard anything about it yet. It wasn't driving her crazy though. Not at all.

Veronica sighed and closed the file laying on her desk. She knew that investigating Lilly's murder wouldn't bring her friend back; she knew that she shouldn't visit Abel Koontz on the death row. Hell she even knew that pretty much everyone would think she was downright crazy if they knew what she was doing. Logan and Duncan wouldn't even look at her twice, if they knew that she had files on them. Logan would probably stop being nice and friendly again. For a second Veronica pondered whether that would be a bad thing.

She did enjoy not being enemies with Logan Echolls, but she would have loved to just stay out of each other's lives. The way things were now, Logan was holding back in school, even around his friends or when they joked about her, he never joined but rather tried to change the subject. And he kept sending her those smiles, those looks that reminded her painfully of how things used to be between them. Of all the things they shared and how safe he used to make her feel just by being her best friend. His attempts to rekindle their relationship had caught her off guard in the beginning and now they were confusing the hell out of her. She just didn't understand why he was doing it.

_Why the sudden change of heart?__ A few weeks ago, he went out of his way to make my life hell, to make me suffer for whatever he was blaming me for. He made it clear that he didn't care much for "my people". So why did he let Chardo go after Weevil gave him that note? Why did I write it in the first place?_

Veronica shook her head slightly. When Weevil had told her how Logan had changed his mind about beating Chardo up after reading her note, she had been floored. While she had claimed that exactly that would happen before, she hadn't really believed it deep down – or rather she hadn't realized what it meant if he really did do what she asked from him. If he was trying to irritate her and then catch her off guard with his true intentions, he sure was doing a stellar job.

When the phone started to ring, Veronica was half relieved about the interruption. She took a moment to compose herself and banned all thoughts of Logan in the very back of her mind before she picked up the phone and recited what she always said when answering the phone in her father's office.

"Hello. Could I speak to Ellen White please?" Veronica's heartbeat sped up hearing the name with which she had signed her request to meet with Abel Koontz.

"You're speaking to her. How can I help you?" She asked innocently.

"I'm calling on Abel Koontz' behalf. He reviewed your letter and agreed to meet with you."

"Oh, that's great! When?"

"Would tomorrow 5pm work for you?"

"Sure, that's perfect. Thank you very much!" Veronica said, listened to the security stuff she had to know before visiting a high security prison and hung up. She quickly scribbled down the time, then stared at it while biting lightly at the end of her pen. This was easier than she had thought. She had expected this to take much more time and that Abel Koontz would most likely say no to her first request, after all he hadn't been up to any visits so far. Then again, she had to have some luck from time to time.

Ever since she had stumbled upon those photos, she had known that there was only one way she could make sense of everything: she had to talk to Abel Koontz. She had thought about asking Cliff since he was his lawyer, but had quickly dismissed the idea, knowing that Cliff would never let her go to the prison. It wasn't that he was a bad guy – if you don't define bad guy as sucky lawyer- but he knew her dad to well and knew her real age and… all together, he wasn't as easy to fool as he liked to led on.

She was just about to get up and head out for school since she had already skipped the first two classes and knew that she couldn't miss too much school without it affecting her grades, when Cliff McCormack strode into the office a slightly annoyed look on his face.

"Cliff, what a nice surprise. I was just thinking of you a few seconds ago. If you're looking for dad though, he's out of town for a couple of days." Veronica said and smiled sweetly while reaching for her school bag. "I'm just about to head out for school actually."

"I actually wasn't looking for your father. I wanted to chat a little with you." Cliff said in his best 'no funny business' voice. Veronica sighed and sat back down, knowing that whatever Cliff wanted she wouldn't get out of it.

"Alright then, what's up? You need my help with something?"

"Funny thing. I just got a call that my former client is getting a visit. It's former client, because he's in a high security prison after pleading guilty. I normally wouldn't have cared, so what if the poor man does want to talk to somebody after all. Imagine my surprise though when I recognize the name of the visitor. It sounded familiar. I asked for the number and guess what, it's yours. Specifically the number to this very office. Somehow I doubt your father calls himself Ellen White nowadays, does he?"

"Not that I know off, no." Veronica replied, her smile fading while Cliff sat down in front of her. Damn, she hated being caught.

"I further remembered that you, little one, asked me about said ex-client not too long ago. So I put two and two together, mastermind that I am, and came straight here. Care to explain your sudden wish to see Abel Koontz?"

Instead of answering his questions Veronica picked up two of the photos she had been looking at not too long before. She looked a bit hesitant but handed them firmly over to Cliff, motioning for him to take a closer look.

"Tell me, do these look like the same pair of shoes to you?" She asked eagerly in a superior voice, as if daring Cliff to contradict her.

"Um, sure, I guess so. Why?" Cliff asked, temporarily thrown off. This hadn't been what he expected.

"One of those photos was taken in Lilly's room after her murder. The other is from Koontz's houseboat, two months later." Veronica explained slightly rushed, excited to finally share her evidence with someone. She just knew she was right about this and she had even proof enough to back it up.

"I see." Cliff said slowly, still looking at the pictures.

"Why would Abel Koontz break back into the Kane house simply to steal a pair of shoes?" Veronica voiced the question she knew would be raised in court too – once she had figured out what really happened and made the evidence public. If you asked her, it was a hell of a question.

"Because he's crazy?" He half asked, half countered slowly while looking up at the young blonde. He gave her the pictures back and assumed a more relaxed position. "You crazy kids. This stuff you're into." He laughed shortly before he continued in a slightly ridiculing tone. "Hula-hoops, cramming into phone booths, visiting death row inmates. What's it going to be next month?"

"I'm serious." Veronica scoffed annoyed. Why would no one take her serious? Her father never told her about the investigation she knew he still had going on. Lamb had just laughed at her after she had told him that she had been raped. Hell, even Logan had thought that he could just follow her around all day without her noticing. What was it with guys always assuming that just because she was young and blonde she'd be stupid too? Stereotyping much? "You're Koontz lawyer, aren't you supposed to at least consider that he's innocent?"

"Interesting assumption. Once a person confesses to a crime, gets sentenced to death and refuses to appeal, the term becomes former lawyer. Besides, Dershowitz, Cochrane and Shapiro were offering up their limbs and he comes here for representation. I failed criminal law and I still know that can't be good."

"So you're just dismissing evidence cause it fits you better, mastermind that you are." Veronica said mocking his earlier words.

"I'm a 20$ the hour, public defender. If I was looking for glory and justice I wouldn't look in Neptune." Cliff dodged the accusation casually. "I'm no superhero, V, I suck as a lawyer. I like the cases I usually get. Tawdry. Unimportant. Beneath most lawyer's standards. I'm the if-you-can-not-afford-an-attorney attorney. The only reason someone like Koontz would choose me over everybody else is if he's guilty and he knows it."

"It's not the only possible reason and you know it." Veronica disagreed heatedly.

"Maybe not. But honestly who cares? It's not like you could possibly get a retrial anyways just because you got a few photos lying around. You do know who's sheriff in town?"

"Just because Lamb's an incompetent idiot, doesn't mean there's no way to force him to do his job." At that Cliff sighed. He held Veronica's gaze for a few seconds than shrugged his shoulders as if saying 'I tried, that's all I can do'.

"Do what you gotta do, but I've met Koontz and he seemed pretty confident in his confessions. I don't want to hear about any other visits though, or else I'll tell your dad. Go talk to him and then just let it be, Veronica. This is good advice, take it." Cliff said before standing and walking away.

"Good talk, Cliffy!" Veronica called after him. She wasn't entirely satisfied with the way things had gone, but as long as Cliff didn't tell her father what she was doing, she was fine with it. Her eyes wandered to her watch, still lost in thoughts. She gasped and quickly grabbed her bag before running out of the office.

_Damn, I'm going to be so late!_

_

* * *

_

"Aren't your pep squad days over, slut?" Two girls asked and laughed at their own joke before walking away. Veronica sighed and threw her stuff into her LeBaron. She could have thrown some insult back, but what was the point?

When someone with her history started to walk around in cheerleader outfits, the nasty comments were a given. She didn't care about what people said over her before, so why bother now? So yeah, she was annoyed with whoever stole her clothes, but right now, there was nothing she could possibly do. She was grateful enough for even having the outfit, no matter how ridiculous it was – everything was better than walking around in a towel.

Suddenly someone walked into her from behind. She fell to the ground and let out an "ouch!".

"I'm sorry, didn't see ya there, you-" She heard Dick's voice but without the usual venom in it. She got up and faced the blonde surfer while unconsciously rubbing her slightly dirty and a little bit roughed up hands against her skirt. She raised an eyebrow at him, as if asking whether he really thought she'd buy his 'I'm sorry'.

"As if." She stated dismissively.

"Oh, it's you." Dick said stunned. He gave her a once over and Veronica realized that he really hadn't ran into her on purpose; he had thought she was a cheerleader. She groaned inwardly, this day was getting better and better. "Woah, déjà vu much." Dick added. "You look just like-"

"Like what? A human being? A GIRL?" Veronica asked angrily. She wasn't in the mood to deal with Dick on top of everything else. She really wasn't. All she wanted to do was get home, change and be back before lunch break ended.

"What, cat got your tongue? Or was it Madison?" Veronica barked when Dick just stared at her.

"You look just like the girl in the picture." Dick finished somewhat awkwardly.

"What picture?" Veronica asked stupidly and surprised.

"The picture in Logan's- nevermind." Dick suddenly cut off himself. "You just look like you did before."

_Before. Now there's a heavy word, alright. What do ya mean Dickster? Like before when you didn't call me a bitch every time you saw me? When I wasn't the pun of all of your jokes and you even secretly taught me how to surf just because I asked you to? Before. Brought it to the point real eloquently, didn't you?_

"Whatever, Dick." Veronica said and shook her head. This was getting a tad too weird for her.

"Do you really think that just because you're wearing Meg's clothe you look any less sluttier? Newsflash, you're not fooling anyone!" A male voice shouted all across the parking lot, interrupting whatever peaceful moment Veronica and Dick were having. Dick looked like a deer caught in the headlights and he quickly took a step back.

"Would you kick your friend's ass for me, for 'before''s sake?" She asked Dick without giving him a last glance, while she flipped his friend of and got into her car.

"I won't do anything for you, bitch. I know the truth about you now!" Dick called just as his nasty little friend arrived at his side, though he sounded just a bit less spiteful than usually. Both looked smugly down on Veronica when she pulled out of her parking space. Veronica just smiled coldly and winked at them before flooring the gas pedal – causing the two boys to jump out of her car's way.

* * *

When Veronica returned from home, back in her own more comfortable clothes, she found chaos. Everywhere were girls screaming at each other, there was hair-pulling and name calling in the worst ways. The guys were on war path too and not few got punched in the face while Veronica walked by.

"Figures that you'd be the last sane person around here." Veronica turned around and smiled at Wallace.

"Aw, don't let your mum hear that." Veronica said, still a little bit peeved that Wallace's mum disliked her so strongly that she had told her son to stay away from her. "Care to tell me why someone played painter?"

"I don't really know who did it. After lunch everything was fine, but when I got back here from PE everyone and everything had gone to hell. I do know what the numbers are supposed to say though, it's a ranking."

"A ranking? And I'm excluded? I'm so disappointed." Veronica said sarcastically.

"I wouldn't be if I were you. It's about that stupid purity test that's been going around for days."

"The one you scored a 70 on?" Veronica asked with raised eyebrows, not really connecting the dots yet.

"Yeah, apparently one can now buy everyone's test results. Hence the ranking."

"Huh. I guess that's what happens when they run out of words for 'slut'."

"Come on, you enjoy all of this chaos." Wallace grinned.

"Yeah, I guess I do. Does that make me a naughty girl?" Veronica winked at him with a satisfied smile on her face. Who was she to deny it? People at this school had put her through hell and she wasn't opposed to revenge, never was never would be.

Before Wallace could say anything, two students on the other side of the hallway drew attention to themselves. Meg and her boyfriend Cole.

"I knew when you came back from Spain last summer, there was something different about you. Should have guessed you slept with that Hobby Air guy. You couldn't shut up about him." Cole yelled loudly and indignantly at poor Meg who was desperately trying to rub the red number of her locker.

"He was our tour guide." She retorted angrily. Cole just laughed at that cruelly.

"Oh." He began nastily. "Was sex included in the package or was that extra?"

"I did not have sex with him. I haven't had sex with anybody. This is crazy; I didn't even take the test." Meg said and Veronica could see the tears that escaped her eyes. She had observed everything silently, her glare intensifying with every passing minute. Without a word to Wallace she walked across the hallway towards the fighting couple, not caring about the stares she got from everyone around her. Cole now started to read loudly from a paper he was holding.

"Have you ever slept with someone who spoke a language you didn't know? Have you ever had a fling while on vacation? Do you lie to protect your reputation? It all makes sense, every question here. You turned me into a joke. Thanks."

"No, thank you, Cole. Thanks for walking away now and bothering someone else with how much your poor little life sucks." Veronica injected before the nearly to tears reduced Meg could say anything. She stepped up beside Meg and put an arm comfortingly around the desperate girl while fixing Cole with a death glare. "I mean it, rich boy, shoo!" She repeated and motioned for him to leave.

"I don't know why I didn't see it before, your choice of friends is obvious enough." Cole didn't back down, obviously too wounded in his pride to leave Meg alone just yet.

"I'm not a very patient person, Cole. So if you don't move your dumb ass out of my sight right now, I swear to you that you'll regret this even more than you already will."

"Why would I regret telling the truth? I tell it how I see it, you're a slut and that" He motioned towards Meg with a disgusted expression. "bitch is even worse, 'cause at least with you everyone knows what he gets." Cole smiled smugly when Meg hid her face behind her hands upon hearing this. "Which is whatever he wants." He added satisfied. With that he turned to walk away.

"Thanks for giving me an open invitation. If I were you, I'd enjoy my life while I still can." Veronica called after him sweetly. Then she turned to Meg who was getting it together again.

"I- I didn't even do anything!" She managed between two stifled sobs. Veronica handed her a tissue and squeezed her shoulder.

"I know." She said soothingly. Silently cursing Cole for being such an ass. She had an idea how Meg must feel, she had gotten a taste of how cruel an 09er could be when he felt wronged. After all, Duncan had broken up with her without ever having that conversation with her. And Logan and the other guys had made sure that she knew what their wrath meant after Lilly's death. Before Shelley Pomroy's party, Veronica had been Meg by all means.

"You believe me?" Meg asked through her sobs and Veronica felt another wave of anger wash over her when she saw Meg's surprise. Why did these asshole always have to put the innocent one through hell?

"Meg, you're the last good person at this school. I'd believe cartoon birds braided your hair this morning. If you want, I can find who posted that test for you. We'll clear your name and make somebody pay."

"Really?" Meg asked hopefully and Veronica smiled genuinely.

"Unless there's a fairy godmother already on it." She added and winked at her. "Now, let's get outta here before any more idiots show up, there's only so much idiocy a girl can take."

* * *

Veronica glanced over at her best friend and noticed that Wallace had fallen asleep. She smiled slightly and stood up carefully, not wanting to wake him up. She put the blanket over him and walked over to the counter, pouring herself a glass of milk.

While sipping it delightfully, her mind kept wandering over everything that had happened today. It had been a long one. The stuff at school and the test thing didn't really bother her that much. She was angry about the way everyone was treating Meg and was determined to find out who did it.

But what bothered her the most was that Wallace had to make up an imaginary friend in order to stay over at her place. If it had been because his mum didn't want him staying over at a girl's place, she would have understood, but it stung to know that her best friend's mum judged her based on the stories she'd heard. Alright, so maybe she had caught her flashing Wallace, but Veronica knew that Mrs Fennel hadn't liked her before either.

"_Does it ever bother you, the things they say?" _Meg's question echoed in her head again.

_Depends who's listening.__ Or rather, yeah it does bother me, but what does crying "fool" do for me that ignoring them doesn't? It's just… When people say it, you can get even, when people you care about listen to it, you can hardly do anything but prove them wrong. Which is a lot harder._

Veronica shook her head as if it would make the dark thoughts go away. She usually didn't pause to think about these things. It wasn't something she could change or influence so she just moved on and tried to make the best of it, but… sometimes life just stung like a bitch.

_Come on, V, You've been through way worse. Wallace doesn't believe the BS and he's still on your side, no matter what his mother says. He's a real friend, something you haven't had for a long time. Just be happy about that._

When the lyrics to a Nelly Furtado song popped into Veronica's mind, she knew that she was dwelling on this too long. She had sworn to never be that pathetic girl again who cried at every little thing that went wrong. She wasn't this girl anymore.

As if on cue Keith entered the apartment. He saw his daughter and smiled at her. She put a finger to her lips and pointed to Wallace. Keith nodded his understanding and walked over to her. She smiled up to him lovingly when he put an arm around her and poured himself some water into a glass.

"Did you play sheriff again?" She whispered, recognizing his old uniform.

"You know me, overstepping is my main form of transportation." He playfully mocked her words from earlier. "I just hate living by the rules." He kissed Veronica on the forehead. "I'm gonna go, I gotta get up bright and early tomorrow… uh, today."

Veronica nodded and whispered a good night and a thanks.

"No problem, kiddo. Just don't stay up worrying your pretty little head much longer, will you?"

"All I can do is try." She whispered although her dad had already vanished into his room. Damn, there were those song lyrics again.

* * *

When Veronica walked down the hallways with Meg at her side, she wasn't really surprised to see a red fourteen on her locker. She would have been surprised if it had taken them longer actually. She was known as the school slut, so it wasn't really a stretch to expect something like this. Still, Veronica wondered, whether some idiot had just made the score up or whether some bitch had taken the test in her name. She was still thinking about it when Meg had left her at the locker.

_They'd have to know my password for that. Or be a computer genius. Then again, someone did take the test for Meg._

Veronica decided to risk being late for her next class (English) in order to have a quick chat with the computer lab teacher. Just to see whether there was a way to get into her account without knowing the password.

"Is there any way to convert cipher text to plain text without initial knowledge of the crypto-algorithms?" Veronica started off when she had stepped into the computer classroom. She met the eyes of the slightly taken aback and confused looking teacher. She kept her smile in place, knowing that direct confrontation led often to success, plus she didn't really have much time.

"Ah, excuse me?" The teacher asked, sounding clueless. Veronica quickly assessed that either the teacher really had no idea what she was talking about, or that he wasn't exactly an easy person to get quick information from.

"I'm trying to figure out how someone could have overridden the control framework on the school server in order to access everyone's password. Can you help me?"

"Yeah, uh, in real life, I'm actually a gym teacher. The person you want to talk to is Mac. Try the parking lot, look for the blue hair." The teacher answered looking a bit uncomfortable. Veronica smiled gratefully before turning on her heels and taking off for English. She was however a bit miffed that she was late for English without having any results.

"Veronica Mars, late again I see?" Mrs Murphy asked reprehending. Veronica told a lame excuse and quickly got to the back of the class, sliding into a seat next to Meg. She was grateful that Mrs Murphy actually liked her and didn't make a big dealio out of her tardiness. Well, Veronica was the best of the class after all.

"So, you found anything?" Meg asked when Mrs Murphy had started to continue with her lecture.

"Not yet. Though did you know that this version of the purity test was originally published in "Grind Girl" magazine?" Veronica replied quietly while getting her stuff out.

"No… but the name's familiar. My sister subscribes to that, I think." Meg told Veronica, frowning a bit.

"I know." Veronica told Meg seriously. "She'd the only person at Neptune High who does."

"But I know Liz, she wouldn't do that." Meg denied the unspoken suspicion.

"Maybe. Right now she's the only one who could have known your password. I'm following up another lead, but you might just have get used to the thought of-" Veronica explained, not as convinced of the innocence of Meg's sister.

"Veronica. You seem to be in a sharing mood. Why don't you tell us your position on this?" Mrs Murphy interrupted the cozy conversation, looking slightly annoyed.

Veronica forced herself to smile while quickly trying to rack her brain for some answers. But she didn't even know what subject they were talking about. She remembered something about the year 1928 but that didn't really ring a bell. She glanced down on Meg's notes, trying to find out what Mrs Murphy was talking about, when Dick saved her. Or rather insulted her.

"All fours!" Dick said loudly enough for everyone to hear and the class started laughing.

"Dick Casablancas, you see me after class." Mrs Murphy told a still grinning Dick. Then she moved on with her lecture. For a moment Veronica was happy because she wasn't questioned any longer, but then she got over that feeling , annoyed with Dick and his stupid comments.

She remembered the short encounter she had had with Dick the day before, the few not-too-hostile moments that had taken her down a extremely short trip on memory lane. She suddenly realized that Dick would have said something similar _before_ too, only then it would have been meant to help her not insult her.

_How easy things can change, same situation a year ago I would have laughed afterwards about this with my friends. Now Dick'__s on the top of my list. Hell, he might even be the one who painted that stupid number on my locker._

She locked eyes with the blonde and wagged her finger at him. He just grinned smugly before turning away again.

_Congrats, Dick__, you've just won a free car inspection._

* * *

When Veronica left the parking lot and headed back to school her mind was whirling. Mac had told her that the IT guy Rene DuMois wouldn't have given out the passwords to any students. Assuming that was true, how the hell could anyone have gotten the passwords?

She had asked Mac to hack into the system and look for some answers and the blue-haired girl had agreed and asked Veronica to meet her later on in one of the computer classes. Hopefully things would become clearer then.

Veronica sighed frustrated while walking towards her locker. She went over everything she had found out so far in her mind, but just couldn't piece it together. She knew she was missing SOMETHING.

_Note to self. Suspects:_

_Cole, the sexually deprived boyfriend _

_Pam, the type-A tightass debutante_

_Lizzie, the oversexed overlooked little sister _

_Or single white female, Kimmy_

_They all would have had some gain from ruining Meg. But none of them even know me. Maybe they went after me, because they heard about me helping Meg. But none of them had a real opportunity aside from Lizzie…_

Suddenly she stopped when she was about to open her locker. The red paint was gone, her locker had been washed and… polished?

"What the…?" She muttered under her breath and quickly looked around. But no one seemed suspicious, some of the passing students were giving her condescending and judging looks, but that was nothing out of the usual. Just when she was about to give up on the looking around, she caught a familiar face smirking at her.

_I should have known. Looks like there's another conversation I have to fit into my schedule. So much for "it's __**just**__ school today and then Abel Koontz"._

* * *

So, that was it. About 5000 words. Any guesses as to who has been cleaning up Veronica's locker? ;) Anyways, tell me what you think, no matter whether you loved or hated it. Or if you're just pissed for the long wait.

Sorry for any mistakes, I read it through pretty quickly cause I'm tired and planning on going to be now, I got a long school day plus a driving lesson tomorrow, isn't life just awesome? -.-

_yours truly ;)_


	11. Chapter 11

Hey guys. This chapter still misses the moment I promised you for the last chapter already, but with about 3000 words it's the average length of my chapters, plus I won't get much writing done the next few days and I didn't want to keep you waiting for too long.

Thanks for the AWESOME REVIEWS. Really, you guys are way too good to me after I kept you waiting for like ages (that doesn't mean I don't expect you to keep reviewing though ;))...

What I wanted to adress before you start with the chappy, is the matter with the drugs and Thumper matter. I haven't forgotten about that twist yet, but this chapter and most likely the next too will be focusing on Veronica and Logan and her school life. But don't forget about the case, cause if not in the next chapter I'll get on with it in chapter 13 ;) And I haven't forgotten about Duncan either, he'll probably even get a chapter in his POV for when he quits the anti depressives. But that's a few chapters ahead.

Responses:

**Nichole** & **Gemini Emerald Amethyst Malfoy**: Yeah, I like Dick too, though it took me some time to warm up to him. It's just that one can do so much with his character. That first scene with him of the last chapter wasn't exactly planned, but it was suddenly in my head and I just went with what I was picturing and tadada... out of the blue a new sub story line was born. xD

**BlondechixEJ**: Thanks a lot for the impulse :) I might just use that idea, I'll see about that. Yeah, I'm still struggling with writing a bit, but I'm getting back into my game and this story is still the easiest to write, maybe cause I love it the most right now.

**Yulia.11.11: AND FOR EVERYBODY ELSE WHO WAS WONDERING...** The vid of Veronica crying was actually shot after the end of chap too, which ends with Veronica having a melt down in the girls bathroom. One reason is that it was the six month aniversary of Lilly's death and another reason are the pictures she received with targets drawn across her friends and people she loves. She suspects and accuses Clarence Weidman of sending them to her in chapter 5, I think.

** lateVMlover**: Well, actually I guess I didn't change all that much. I added a few scenes or rewrote some and played a bit with the time line, but generally I'm still trying to stay close to the eps. Cause my story follows along the first season in many points. But last chapter was also only the first part of the three that will play in the frame of "Like A Virgin". I think I mentioned it in the last A/N, you know, that the chapter still follows the ep 1.17. I'm just trying to find a balance between not writing too much you know but still getting the main points mentioned. So I'm sorry if it bores you or anything, but in this and the next chapter there will be more AU.

Thanks to all of the above and to **Josielynn**, **nomanslandvick**i, **HAYLEY**, **Beeski** and **Felicia1975** for reviewing, it means so much to me and always makes my day :)

* * *

_**"I let you down **_  
_**But i'll make it up to you somehow **_  
_**In time, you'll see it's true **_  
_**That my will is strong **_  
_**And i know that as these days go on **_  
_**You'll find, **_  
_**I'll get to you **_  
_**If it's the last thing that i do..."**_

**_(Will Not Back Down - Alex Max Band)_**

Veronica slammed the door shut behind her before she turned back to Logan. The latter looked slightly confused but over all still amused at the petite blonde. He hadn't exactly expected her to shove him into an empty classroom after all the time she had spend avoiding him, but he wasn't complaining.

"What do you want from me?" Veronica asked blankly, not bothering to hide her annoyance.

"Hm, that would be a long list. Could you be a bit more specific?" Logan replied easily. He plopped down on a table and crossed his arms casually while smirking at his former friend and self declared frienemy.

"Ugh, Logan, I'm getting really tired of this. Can't you just get to the point? Why are you suddenly so nice to me? Why the sudden change of heart? I know it was you who got rid of that paint, don't even try to deny it. I also know that you're the sole reason no idiot has yet painted another red number on my locker. So, if you seem to care so much, just tell me why." Veronica finished, sounding beyond frustrated. She had asked him the same question before and he had never really given her an answer she could work with. No answer she could accept.

Now though she really needed one. Things were stressful enough already and she was frankly sick and tired of worrying about Logan. It had been easier to deal with him when he had been angry with her, when she had known what to expect and where they stood. So much easier.

"Funny thing, I'm getting tired of always answering the very same question as well." Logan retorted, slightly put out that she still didn't even consider believing him. His intentions were nothing but good, for god's sake! He had done everything he could think of to prove that to her but she kept looking the other way. "I told you, I'm sorry and I want you to forgive me. No, I want more than just forgiveness, I want a second chance. I want to be a part of your life again, Ronnie, I missed my best friend."

While talking Logan had kept her gaze firmly and had tried to convey all the emotions he had held back for so long. Somewhere along the lines he had gotten up from the table and had approached her subconsciously. She in turn had taken slow steps backwards until she had reached the wall. Neither of them had really noticed their movements, both caught up in a silent staring match and the intense words.

"I can't forgive you. And you won't get a second chance." Veronica stated a lot less determined than she would have liked. She hated how his words got to her even though she knew them not to be true. "I'm not your best friend, never was never will be."

"Yeah, you were. And I swear to god, one day you'll be again. Because I won't give up, Ronnie. I'll keep on being around and sooner or later you'll see that I mean it. I'm not trying to hurt you, Veronica, I just want you to give me another chance. I need you to give me another chance. And I think that somewhere deep down, you want and need the same thing, we-"

"I don't **need** you!" Veronica spat. Somehow his last words had broken the spell, she was now no longer confused or unable to move and think. She grew aware of just how close he was standing and how weak she had been moments before. She had been about to give in and both of them had known it.

_Ridiculous. As if anyone could believe him. But fine, if he prefers telling stupid lies, he's just proving what a jackass he is._

She pushed Logan away from her, firmly banishing any thoughts of what could have happened next if she hadn't snapped back to reality and of how he had glanced at her lips while speaking, thoughts of how she hadn't minded it at all.

"And I don't need your help with anything either. I can handle being the school slut, _you_ gave me that title after all. I really must have meant the world to you." Veronica said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, but before Logan could say anything she continued in a calm voice. "I will find out who's behind this purity bullshit and I'll get revenge in my own right. I don't want to see you involved in any of this or in anything that concerns my life actually. Don't cross me Logan or you'll make my list, and trust me, that's not a place you wanna be."  
"I'm not scared of you, Ronnie." Logan said sternly surprised at her sudden change of behavior. How did she go from listening and being peaceful to making threats in one second?

"Well, maybe you should be." Veronica retorted in her usual feisty manner. She gave him a challenging look before she turned her back to him.

"Look, you wanna find out who posted the fake test for you, don't you?" Logan suddenly said and caused her to stop before leaving the classroom. She didn't answer, she only stopped walking away and glanced over her shoulder, giving him a strange look.

"Well, I can help. I can ask around, I'm sure I'll find out who's after you and why faster than you could. Just let me help you, for old time's sake. Besides, I'll go after them anyways." He added as if an involuntary afterthought.

"I don't want your help. This is my business, not yours. I'll find out who's after it and I'll make sure they get what they deserve. Only I." Veronica repeated in a serious "or else" tone. She opened the door, but before she stepped out of the room she spoke again without looking back.

"Just leave me and my locker alone, Logan." _Please._

_

* * *

_

Outside the door Veronica tried her best not to slam it shut behind her when she found herself facing a very guilty and nervous looking Mac. It was obvious she had overheard at the very least enough of the conversation to make her uncomfortable. If Veronica hadn't been so pissed and confused, she would have smiled at Mac's inability to lie. Seriously, that girl could just as well have a neon sign plastered across her forehead.

_To bad I gotta kill her now, she could have become my first girlfriend in… quite some time._

"I didn't-" Mac started, growing more nervous by minute when Veronica just grabbed her and walked away.

"Don't even try to deny it." Veronica cut her off without looking at the girl trailing behind. "Did anybody tell you you're a sucky liar?" She questioned further when she pulled the poor girl into an empty computer classroom, the one they were supposed to meet in now anyways.

"So, how much did you hear?"

"Just a bit of the end."

"That much huh?" Veronica sighed when Mac nodded awkwardly but still didn't really look her in the eye.

"You heard everything, didn't you?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Oh boy."

"Look I obviously don't know what the deal is with you and Logan, 'cause I kinda thought that he was like hating you or something, but I know that he was practically begging you for forgiveness in there and you just punched him in the face – figuratively spoken." Mac suddenly blurted out, much more confident now she wasn't hiding anything anymore. She probably figured that things couldn't get much worse and curiosity wasn't exactly a death sin. Or well, maybe it was but who could blame her? This was Logan Echolls being nice to Veronica Mars, for god's sake.

"You know, I liked you a lot better when you were so nervous you couldn't look me in the eyes, let alone give me advice."

"Yeah, well tough luck then." Mac retorted without missing a beat. Veronica looked up surprised and nearly broke out laughing when she saw her own surprise mirrored in Mac's face. "Sorry about that. I have no idea why I just said that, I didn't mean to-"

"That's alright, Mac. I'm very well capable of taking what I dish. I think I actually like this bad ass side of you a lot more." Veronica added with a laugh when Mac started to look a bit embarrassed. "About me and Logan… Well, it's a long and complicated story. He might have sounded like he was begging, but it was just another step in his big masterplan." When Mac gave her a doubting look, Veronica suddenly didn't feel like sharing anything else. "Why don't we just get to work now? You said you could hack into the system and give me some answers? Cause I kinda need to leave in about half an hour, earlier would be better."

"Sure. No problem. Purity test website, right?"

"Exactly." Veronica grinned when Mac just sat down and concentrated on the computer instead of Veronica and Logan. Maybe they could still become friends after all.

"Ok, looks like whoever set up the page added this new feature a few days later." Mac commented when Veronica looked over her shoulder. The inviting button said: Buy Everybody's Purity Test HERE!

"Ten bucks a pop, man. Somebody's getting rich. I know some kids who have ordered dozens."

"Have you ordered any?" Veronica asked quickly, curious when Mac knew that much without even working any magic.

"Think that I have ten dollars to spare? You've seen my car, right?" Mac asked and rolled her eyes while typing in a combination that lead to the info to the 'Dummy Corporation'. The two girls exchanged looks after reading the name.

* * *

Logan stayed in the empty classroom for a few more minutes after Veronica had left. He sat down on the teacher's desk and crossed his arms while reflecting on what had just happened.

This had been the first time in a very long time that he had been that close to Veronica. And he could have sworn that for at least a split second Veronica hadn't thought about the present or the situation at hand. Just like he hadn't been able to think about anything but kissing those lips.

The attraction had always been there between them, even when they had just been friends. They had ignored it because of their mutual love for the Kane siblings, but they had always silently acknowledged the chemistry between both of them, in shared looks or simple hugs. He had always known that they would be a perfect couple and he was sure that Veronica had thought so too.

In fact, after Lilly and he had broken up for the very last time, he had been determined to confront Veronica and try to make it work with her. He had decided that Veronica was worth losing his best friend. But Veronica had been a different person back then, she had matched so well with Duncan most of the time, that half of the time Logan had thought himself to be crazy to even dream about being with her. But every now and then there had been those moments when he had seen glimpses of a whole different Veronica, only now he had realized that it had been glimpses of the present Veronica. He had been too focused on feeling betrayed and taking revenge the last six months to notice that this was the Veronica he had fallen in love with without even knowing her full potential.

_So I guess the only problem left is, that this Veronica pretty much hates me. She doesn't trust me and I can't blame her. But that doesn't stop me from trying to make it up to her, eventually she'll give in and grant me a second chance. She still feels drawn to me, if her behavior from a few minutes ago is any indicator. _

The bell rang and students started to come into the classroom. Logan pushed himself off the teacher's desk and slowly made his way towards his usual place. He hadn't even noticed that Veronica had coincidently pulled him into his next classroom until the bell had rung. Now he'd have to last through two hours of history.

"Hey man." Dick greeted Logan and sat down next to his best friend. "What's up?"

"Nothing much." Logan replied smirking. "I heard you got into a fight with Will?"

"Yeah, dude, that guy had it coming. Plus he was bragging about his plans to repaint the locker." Dick said gravely and a tad conspicuously.

"The locker?" Logan questioned and raised an eyebrow amused at his friends antics.

"You know, _her _locker."

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, man." Logan said, though he had to admit that he had a feeling where this was going.

"Stopp denying, I saw you cleaning her locker earlier. Besides, do you really think that if anyone else had washed off the paint it would have stayed that way for more then 10 minutes tops?"

Logan was slightly shocked. He hadn't expected that people would catch on to his changed attitude towards Veronica that fast. He wasn't sure whether he liked it or if he was ready for that yet. True, he had tried to lay off Veronica and had tried to get his friends to do the same, but he hadn't done anything too obvious. Not that he minded people knowing, but he assumed that Veronica would be even more pissed off by the rumors that were bound to come up.

Another matter was Duncan, Logan wasn't sure what to do about his best friend. Their friendship was a bit strained as it was already and so far Logan hadn't brought Veronica up in their conversation, nor had he hinted on his changed feelings for the petit blonde. He didn't want to lose what was left of his and Duncan's friendship.

"Why would I care what is painted on Veronica Mars' locker?" He asked Dick instead of answering, trying to sound as indifferent and nonchalant as possible.

"That was gonna be my next question." Dick stated with a frightening intelligent glint in his eyes.

"Look, I don't wanna talk about this, but I'd prefer if you wouldn't pick fights about things like that." Logan said sternly before he turned his head back towards the teacher.

"Then I guess you don't want to know who posted Veronica's purity test for her." Dick muttered and turned away from Logan, sounding a bit huffed. His words however did reach Logan's ear and immediately captured his attention.

"What? How do you know that?" Logan asked quietly but intently, the leader in him demanding answers.

"I overheard Madison talk with that Pam chick." Dick told his friend proudly. Then he scrunched up his face confused. "So you do wanna know about it?"

"Of course I do, idiot." Logan hissed, getting annoyed and wondered not for the first time whether Dick was just playing him and everyone else or whether he was really that dumb. "Now tell me what you know!"

* * *

Logan drove to the office of Veronica's father straight after school. On the way there he dialed her cell number for what felt like the millionth time. So far she hadn't picked up once. He figured she either knew it was him and was ignoring him, or she just generally ignored unknown numbers.

Beyond frustrated he stormed into the office, dead set on giving Veronica his piece of mind – her forgiveness still being his ultimate goal he wouldn't let her just ignore him like that. He knew who was behind the fake purity test and he knew what the bitch had planned next and if Veronica didn't want him to do anything about it, he'd have to at least warn her.

"Veronica?" He asked loudly after he had checked the tiny kitchen and found it to be empty. He turned and walked over to Keith's office, expecting to find the blonde in there. Imagine his surprise when a tall, black haired, old guy walked out of the office with a amused look on his face.

"Ah, that happens all the time to me." He said with a chuckle. "Must be that stunning similarity to cute little blondes."

"Excuse me, who are you?" Logan asked half annoyed half confused.

"McCormack. Cliff McCormack." Cliff replied and extended his hand enthusiastically. When Logan didn't immediately take it, he reached for Logan's instead and shook it. "Now, care to tell me what you are doing in my office?"

"Your office?"

"Well, technically. Right now it's more mine than yours, rich boy. And I'm a lawyer, so I should know what I'm talking about."

"A lawyer, huh?" Logan asked, clearly not impressed.

"Don't get funny with me. What do you want from Veronica."

"I need to talk to her." Logan stated bored by Cliff's weird threatening tone.

"Now where did I hear that before?" Cliff mused loudly. When Logan glared at him he turned serious again. "She's not here, sorry."

"Really? I never would have guessed." Logan said sarcastically. "Do you know **where** she **is**?"

"No I don't, but feel free to leave and search for her elsewhere." Cliff said. The phone started ringing and he walked back into Keith's office, not sparing Logan another glance. Logan quickly stepped over to Veronica's desk looking for some indication of where she could be, all the while throwing glances towards Cliff who was still talking on the phone with his back towards Logan.

Just when Logan was about to give up his spontaneous little search, he found what he was looking for. A post it that had an address and today's date on it together with a time that was just about matching the current. The four lines were circled with a red marker.

"Gotcha." Logan muttered, grabbed the piece of paper and nearly ran out of the office and to his T-Bird. "But what is Ronnie doing in a High Security Prison?" He wondered quietly before starting the engine.

* * *

I know that with only three more scenes I'm kinda leaving you hanging, again. Sorry bout that. But I promise that I'll update as soon as I can and I'm very confident it'll be in **less than a week** that you get the next chapter which will have a L/V bonding and the finish of the purity test thing at school in it. I hope you're not annoyed yet with Veronica telling Logan off, cause even I'm getting a bit frustrated writing it, but when I put myself in her shoes, I wouldn't want to listen that easily either. WE know that Logan means well, but how is she supposed to know that? Anyways, reviews are love, as you must know, so you know what I want you to do ;)

Gosh, it's gotten late again. Damn, school's gonna be hell tomorrow, no wait, today... -.- Happy christmas time, guys :) I don't know about you, but I only got two more weeks of school ahead of me for 2010 :)

yours truly (tired)


	12. Chapter 12

Okay, so I know I'm two weeks late. Sorry bout that. Can't really give you an excuse that would be worth telling though, it's just that I put things off a lot lately. "I'll do it tomorrow" I think and then tomorrow passes without any progress. I still have a lot of ideas for this ff and good ones at that, it's just that the writing that has to be done in between those scenes that are in my head, that's what I keep putting off...

That being said, this chapter is one of those that I had in my head from the very beginning. But writing it I had a few problems. You know it's not so much conversation but more about capturing the moment in the end of this chapter. I hope I managed it okay in the end.

Enjoy reading ;)

* * *

Chapter 12

"_**I've been roaming around, I was looking down at all I see**_

_**Painted faces fill the places I can't reach**_

_**You know that I could use somebody**_

_**You know that I could use somebody"**_

_**(Use Somebody – Laura Jansen [Original by King Of Leon])**_

When Veronica pulled into the parking lot of the high security prison she felt more nervous than in a very long time. If one had asked her exactly she expected to be the outcome of visiting Abel Koontz. Truth be told, she knew she was hitting a dead end if she didn't get some new leads soon. So she had the photos – they wouldn't hold up in court against the Kane's lawyers. The only person left to help her make some sense of everything and of making some progress was sitting in the grey building in front of her – and that person was most likely not too eager to help her.

_Get your head in the game, Veronica. You need to be cool and collected now. He's not gonna give you the answers you need if he thinks something's up with you._

"Hello, what can I do for you?" A guy in uniform asked when Veronica stepped into the building.

"Hello. I'm Ellen White, I'm here to visit Abel Koontz?"

"Right, the meeting was set up over the phone, right?" The man asked while typing something into the computer.

"Exactly."

"Alright, may I see your ID please?"

"Sure." Veronica answered sweetly and handed over the fake. As expected the guy didn't detect anything wrong and smiled at Veronica before giving her directions. Veronica entered the prison visiting area where she sat before the glass divider in front of Koontz and picked up the phone.

"Ellen. Well aren't you a breath of fresh air." Koontz greeted her with a creepy smile. It took Veronica a lot not to flinch hearing his fake voice. It was sending shivers down her spine. She had to admit that it wasn't that hard to believe that that guy was a murderer.

"I want to thank you for taking the time to meet with me, Mr Koontz." She said sweetly but yet professionally.

"It's always nice to chat with a hometown girl. Do you ever get back to good old Stallingsburg for the pear blossom festival?" Koontz questioned, seemingly friendly but it came across just a little bit too eager.

"You mean apple blossom." Veronica corrected him, giving him her best fake smile. She knew what he was doing and she was more than prepared.

_Bring it on Koontz. __Ellen will know the answer to your every question._

"Of course." Koontz agreed and Veronica had a feeling like he didn't buy her fake identity yet.

"Just bought my tickets for May." She said and shrugged uncomfortably under his stare.

"You know, you remind me of someone. How old are you, Ellen?" Koontz asked, seemingly out of the blue.

"Twenty-two." Veronica answered a bit surprised but curious as to where he was going with that question. Was it another test?

"She must have been the same age when I knew her. Hmm. I shouldn't bore you with ancient history. Now, what shall we chat about?"

Veronica hesitated for a second, part of her curious about what history he was getting at. But she decided that her reason for coming was more important right now. Besides, she was supposed to meet Mac later on in order to find out who 'Froggy' handed out the passwords to. Veronica planned on introducing Mac to her expensive camera and the life of a P.I. It should be fun.

"Well, I found these photographs online." She held up the photos she had showed Cliff earlier. "I think they could prove you didn't take Lilly's shoes the night of the murder. It might be enough evidence to get you a retrial."

"Now why would I want a retrial when I could have all this?" Koontz asked, his voice and his face showing nothing close to real amusement and Veronica knew she had him – or at least she thought so.

"Somebody had to plant those shoes on your houseboat. You never saw Lilly Kane in your life. Why would you confess to killing her?"

"So you're one of those. What will it take for Keith Mars to let sleeping dogs lie?" Koontz suddenly asked and turned vicious while glaring at her, his face a mask of hate. "Do you wanna know exactly how I bashed your friend's brains in? Oh. I know who you are Veronica Mars. I knew your mom when she used to visit the office during lunch hours."

"I don't believe you." Veronica said but didn't sound as firm as she would have liked.

"You're a very dedicated young lady. Certainly you didn't inherit that quality from poor scattered Lianne. Unfortunately for you, that makes you your father's daughter." Koontz continued evilly.

"My dad tried to save your life." Veronica spat, anger flaring up at the insult he threw her fathers way.

"I meant your real father. Think about it Veronica. Look in a mirror. Are you the product of a schluppy sheriff or the king and queen of the prom?" Koontz asked sadistically. He hung up on the shocked blonde and called for the guard.

* * *

When Logan pulled into the parking lot of the prison he quickly spotted Veronica's LeBaron. He slowly passed the old car and decided to pass up on the free space right next to it and headed for the only other free space, nearly at the end of the parking lot giving him the opportunity to observe not only whoever would leave the parking lot, but also whoever would come near Veronica's car.

He had spent his time guessing what Veronica could do in such a place. She surely wouldn't know anybody in a high security prison, right? Weevil was too young for jail and that was the only criminal in Veronica's life as far as Logan knew.

Logan shook his head annoyed with himself and banned the topic of Eli "Weevil" Navarro and his mysterious friendship with Veronica in the back of his mind. He wasn't going to find a sufficient answer anyways; he would never understand why Veronica would befriend such losers.

_It's not like you left her a choice. You made sure that she had no friends left and that everybody else was too afraid to risk your wrath by befriending her. If she had to turn to scum like Weevil and the likes it's your fault._

"Damn it." Logan said angrily and hit the wheel in front of him. He wasn't a guy filled with remorse, he didn't apologize very often and there were few things in his life he really regretted doing. The accusations his own mind had started throwing at him during the last days were therefore annoying him like hell. Part of him didn't want to deal with the guilt that started building up whenever he thought about what pain he must have caused his best friend. Two weeks ago his pain had been strong enough to discard any thoughts of how Veronica must feel, but that had changed now.

So far a voice that he suspected more and more to be the voice of his conscience had accused him of forcing Veronica to change into this tougher, harder version of herself. That it was his fault that Veronica had taken up that stupid and dangerous hobby of hers and had befriended people like Weevil.

Most of the time he ignored the guilty feeling, that worked actually pretty well for him. He was a master in repressing things, whether it was guilt or physical pain. Logan was determind not to let anyone dictate his life. With the guilt it was harder though, it was constantly there at the back of his mind, ready to come back out whenever her let his guard down and either saw Veronica or got lost in thoughts about her. With the guilt the memories came back, he had spend quite some time now just remembering things that had been tabu so far because they involved Lilly – and therefore hit too close to home.

One of the things he couldn't forget was what Veronica had said during the ride he had given her to Weevil's house. Logan didn't know exactly what it was that had shaken him so about her admission that she had never truly believed that Jake was guilty. But for some reason hearing her say those words had changed everything. Contemplating the matter a few times Logan had come to the conclusion, that what shocked him about it was that he had always blamed her for betraying Duncan with blaming her father. A man that had been nothing but good and fatherly not only to Veronica but to Logan too. Growing up Logan had always wished he had a father like Jake Kane.

With Lilly's death, Veronica's "betrayal" and his own guilt Logan had never stopped to think about why Veronica was betraying him and Duncan. Instead he had channeled his hurt into anger and had directed it at Veronica. For a long time he had even secretly blamed her for Lilly's death in order to lessen his own guilt. After all, if it hadn't been for Veronica he and Lilly would have still been together on that fateful day and he would have been with her when Koontz broke into the Kane house…

Before Logan could get lost in a world of "what could have been" he saw Veronica leaving the building and he was therefore distracted from his train of thoughts. He immediately noticed that something was off. Veronica kept her head down, staring at the ground and walking kind of stiffly. When she got to her car a part of Logan was glad she had made it save and in one part, because she hadn't looked up once, hadn't even noticed that a car pulling into the parking lot had nearly run her over.

He saw how she fumbled with her keys on her way to the car and how her hands seemed to tremble. Shocked and surprised about the untypical behavior he observed, he didn't get out of his car and confronted her like he had planned too. Actually he hadn't planned that far ahead and had figured that once Veronica saw his car she'd probably come to confront him herself. He had been mentally preparing himself for her anger and the cruel words that she would most likely resort too when she noticed that he wasn't fazed by her anger.

After their conversation in school and the hours of class he had had to think about everything, he had decided that he couldn't just tell Veronica what he felt and how everything had changed. He needed to take baby steps. First he had to make her believe that he was sorry and that they could be more than not enemies. And then, when she had come to tolerate him, maybe even like him, he could work on making her see the obvious connection they had and go from there. With a little bit of luck and patience on his side, he knew that they could become something more.

But Veronica didn't seem to notice the big yellow car, even when she passed it. If Logan hadn't known better he could have sworn there were tears in her eyes. But he quickly dismissed it as the evening sun playing tricks on his eyes. Even though Logan didn't let himself believe that he would get to see this Veronica cry twice within a few weeks, he still followed her without giving it much thoughts. He tried to always keep a few cars between Veronica's and his, well remembering that while she might not be on top of her game, she was still very capable of spotting a big yellow car following her – or so he thought.

_Ok, so she's definitely not heading home. I've rarely been at this part of town. Actually I think I've only come through here once or twice. With Lilly. We were heading for a date on…_

"The hidden beach." Logan whispered, overcome with memories. The beach Veronica was heading to, wasn't really hidden in the usual sense of the word. It was just hard to get there since there were rocks and a cliff surrounding it. But for some reason Logan probably would never know, Lilly had known a path through the rocks and to the strand. It had been a great date, they had stayed at the beach all night till they fell asleep, enjoying the peace and the company of each other. It made perfect sense, that Lilly must have taken Veronica there too – it just hadn't occurred to Logan up to now. Whenever he thought of the beach, he thought of how much he loved Lilly and how that night on the deserted beach he had thought for the first time that she felt the same way about him. He had given her his heart on a Saturday night – only to get it handed back in two pieces two nights afterwards.

Now that Logan knew where Veronica was driving, he let himself fall back a bit. He had no doubt that Veronica was driving there, she was obviously upset about something and if she searched for alone time outside of her home, the hidden beach was perfect for it. He was glad that it was still about ten minutes until they would have reached Veronica's destiny, giving him time to mentally prepare himself for the memories of Lilly that would inevitably come rushing back to him once he arrived.

* * *

Mac sat in her new car and waited anxiously for Veronica's arrival. She had contemplated long whether or not she should take the new car to see Veronica tonight. She knew that the blonde was smart and wouldn't take long to count 2 and 2 together. But a part of her, Mac couldn't quite explain it, was somehow convinced that Veronica wouldn't leak the knowledge about Mac being responsible for the purity test to the whole school.

Mac knew that she hadn't really done anything illegal per se. She was merely taking money from those who had way too much of that anyways – something Veronica must be able to appreciate too. It wasn't her fault that some people decided to post fake tests for Meg and Veronica. The main reason Mac had agreed to help Veronica in the beginning had been that she felt responsible for how people were treating Meg, one of the few 09ers that was actually nice even to the have-nots.

"Veronica, where are you?" Mac muttered annoyed while keeping her eyes on the entrance to the infamous make-up-place. She had already tried her new friend's cell a few times but had always gone straight to voice mail.

_I have two options now. I can either drive home since it doesn't look like Veronica's going to show up anytime soon, or… I could go through with the plan on my own._

Mac's eyes involuntary flickered over to the only other car on the deserted meadow. Even though it was dark Mac was pretty sure that it was DeMois' car. She had seen it often enough now and while there was no doubt in her mind that Veronica had been right with her assumption that they'd find DeMois and whoever he was giving the passwords to here tonight, she had to wonder how Veronica had known that they were going to be here of all places.

A sigh escaped the girl with the blue streak. She had never been as brave as Veronica and had lived most of her high school life under the radar. Some people knew her as the chick that's good with computers but that was just about it. She didn't really have many friends, no real girl friends in fact. Even though only now having met Veronica, Mac admired her strength and determination.

Mac well remembered how Veronica used to be all anybody gossiped about before Lilly Kane's death. Back then Mac had just thrown her into the mix of the other 09ers, after all her father was the sheriff and she was dating Duncan Kane of all people. They had been living in different worlds with no chances of ever really meeting each other on a level playing field. Back then Veronica had been just like Meg Manning still was: sweet, caring and innocent.

After Lilly's death Mac had of course seen how things had changed quickly. Within a month or so Veronica had gone from one of the popular sweethearts of the school to a complete outsider, a social pariah. Logan and his friends had made sure that no one would dare coming near her. Every other girl would have succumbed and kept her head down, hoping to get through the day unnoticed, Mac knew that if it had been her that would have been her reaction. But no, not Veronica, she had held her head high and had gotten… tough. That was the only fitting word Mac could come up with. Until now she hadn't given Veronica's life much thought, but she realized that it must have been really hard for Veronica during the last six months. Her father had lost her job, Mac had heard rumors about her mother skipping town too. Add Logan and the other spiteful 09ers taking their anger out on the tiny blonde and it was all one needed to break down.

Before Mac knew what she was doing or had thought it through, she had already left the car and now approached the other car with her camera ready. She might not be as tough and strong as Veronica, but she wasn't a coward either. She'd show Veronica that she was brave and a good friend as well.

* * *

When Logan stopped his car and parked it next to Veronica's on the roadside, he took a deep breath before he started descending through the rocks, careful not to slip. It was surprisingly easy… surprisingly easy to not only concentrate on where he was walking but to also not having to fight much against the memories of Lilly. Somehow it didn't hurt as much remembering his time with Lilly as it used to.

Before Logan could get to the bottom of his feelings and the change in them, he reached the beach and spotted Veronica. She was standing near the water, staring out on the ocean while hugging herself and rocking slightly back and forth. Approaching her carefully he noticed that he hadn't been wrong earlier, she was crying. And she wasn't rocking back and forth, she was rather shaking violently.

Before he knew what was he was doing he was next to her and pulled the tiny blonde in his arms. At first she struggled and tried to break free, but he held on to her tightly, knowing that she needed someone to be strong for her right now, even if he had to force her to accept it. Her weak struggling quickly subsided and somehow Veronica's arms found their way around his torso. Logan felt relief and joy when he felt how Veronica relaxed against him. He was glad that she finally quit being tough and started to let herself go – and that she had chosen him to comfort her.

_Well, she didn't exactly chose me, but considering where we stood this morning it comes close enough._

"It'll be alright, Ronnie. Everything's going to be fine." Logan muttered in a soothing voice, raising one his hands to stroke through her hair. "I'm here. You're not alone. I'm with you." He continued and pulled Veronica down with him, settling with her in his arms on the sand.

"Everything's messed up." Veronica choked out in between sobs. Logan hadn't expected her to tell him anything about what bothered her, he had been overjoyed that she allowed him to hold her. But her words raised questions in him that demanded an answer.

"What happened?" He asked hoarsely. He cleared his throat and repeated his question, trying not to let the contradicting emotions shine through. "What happened, Veronica?"

"It's my dad." Veronica told him after what seemed like an eternity. She hugged him a bit tighter and for a moment the sobs stopped – she was obviously trying to calm down – and then returned, shaking her little body violently again.

"Sssh. Don't cry, Ronnie. What's wrong with your dad?" Logan asked hesitantly. He wasn't sure where this was going to go, but he had a bad feeling about it. When Veronica didn't answer he repeated the question more intently, pausing the soothing stroking for a few moments.

"I'm not sure who my dad is." Veronica admitted before a new series of sobs took over. It took Logan a moment to process her words before he hugged her tightly and murmured words of comfort in her ear.

Eventually he felt her calm down a bit. She stopped shaking but he had a feeling that she was beyond exhausted, too exhausted to pull away, was his guess. Not that he was complaining. But just when that thought entered his mind, he heard her mutter something under her breath he couldn't quite catch. "What is it, Ronnie?" He asked and tucked a bit of her hair behind her ears.

"Thank you for being here." Veronica repeated a little bit loud but still so softly that Logan had to bend over her to catch her words. "Thanks Logan."

Those last two words caused Logan to smile like he hadn't in a long time: a genuine, heartfelt smile of happiness. He continued comforting her until he felt her drifting on in a deep sleep. Careful not to wake her he leaned back on the sand and eventually drifted off too, his last thought being how good it felt to be close to Veronica again.

"_**Someone like you and all you know and how you speak**_

_**Countless lovers under cover of the street**_

_**You know that I could use somebody**_

_**You know that I could use somebody**_

_**Someone like you"**_

_**

* * *

**_

So, what did you think? Maybe Mac's perspektive was off a little bit, I'm still trying to get into that character, but I just wanted to bring this ep to an end so to say. Next chapter will be about the Thumper-case, maybe with some Weevil mixed into it and then I plan on adding some Duncan again too. But Mac will from now on be a part of the story, cause I just love her friendship with Veronica and how she started, you know, coming a bit out of her shell too after befriending V.

I just yesterday rewatched the first 9 eps of season one together with a friend and it was the first time I watched them in german (cause said friend is no good in english). Aside from the awful german voices I noticed that quite a few times the translation was a bit off and some jokes just got lost... It's sad really. That's exactly one of the reasons I put such effort into learning english, because things just get lost in translation and that really sucks. Well, who knows, maybe my friend, who by the way has lend the first season from me now, will fall in love with the show too and try to watch it in english - that's my goal at least ;)

On a last question for you my dear readers, I was thinking about getting Mac a guy somewhere along the story. Would you like to see her with a "good" Cassidy or would you rather have a new guy? Or maybe even Dick? Just let me know if you got any ideas ;)

I hope you had a nice christmas (this chapter was supposed to be a christmas gift, but that didn't work out) Happy New Year everyone, party hard ;)

yours truly


	13. Chapter 13

First off, thanks to everyone who left their suggestion about who Mac should be with. Like I said it'll be some time till that happens, but I really liked reading your ideas, I currently have two possible scenarios in my head ;)

So. I had this chapter finished a few days ago, but it took me until today to post it. Without a doubt, this is the chapter I'm the most anxious about to post from all the other chapters. Maybe because this is the first that is all from my imagination. Not just one or two short new scenes, but completely new. I just hope you like what I've done with the Thumper case (which turned out to be a lot harder to map out than I had originally thought), though this is only the first half of the two chapters dealing with it.

Just as a reminder... Thumper came to ask Veronica for help, because the money, which he had put in the infamous confessional in the St. Mary's church, is missing now and that makes Liam real unhappy (yeah that last part is new for you, I think).

Here goes nothing...

* * *

Chapter 13

_**"Not ready to let go**_  
_**Cause then I'd never know**_  
_**What I could be missing**_  
_**But I'm missing way too much**_  
_**So when do I give up what I've been wishing for.**_

_**I shot for the sky**_  
_**I'm stuck on the ground"**_

_**(Down - Jason Walker)**_

**Sunday Night, round about 9 p.m.**

When Weevil entered the Sac'n'Pack he immediately recognized the student behind the counter as Veronica's friend Wallace. With a certain satisfaction Weevil noticed that upon his short nod, as a greeting to the guy who owned a surveillance tape that could bring two of his guys to jail, Wallace stiffened and grew a bit nervous.

Weevil smirked self contently and turned his attention back to his friend, Thumper. The latter was the unofficial second in command and Weevil had come to rely on him. Thumper did sometimes openly disagree with him, but in the end he usually had Weevil's back, even if both knew that Thumper was just supporting their leader in order to keep the gang together. Things were currently going well for the gang so Weevil wasn't afraid of Thumper trying to overthrow his leader; lately Weevil had even come to appreciate the slightly taller guy.

"And then they just blame us for everything. We can't just let those rich boys get away with that." Thumper said clearly upset. He was filling Weevil in on what he had found out about the series of sexual assaults that had up to now only had Mexican girls as victims. Thumper claimed that the 09ers started coming onto the girls in clubs and then later on blamed the bikers when the girls came to the sheriff with the matter. The sheriff hadn't done anything about it but question the accused rich boys and then claiming that there was not enough proof. Now the whole town was laughing about the biker gang who couldn't even keep their own girls save.

"We won't." Weevil answered darkly. The last victim had been his favorite cousin Eva. He still remembered how the slightly younger girl had been reduced to tears by the tool of a sheriff after she had reported the crime. "We'll make them pay."

Their conversation stopped when they reached the counter and put down the bottles of booze and some snacks. Weevil looked at Wallace, impatiently waiting until Wallace told him the sum.

"We don't got all night, brother." Thumper mocked Wallace annoyed with his mere presence.

"Stop it, Thumper." Weevil said curtly, earning a surprised and slightly offended look from the other biker.

"Why would I? Just because he's the little pet of your precious Veronica Mars?" Thumper asked, his voice filled with sarcasm and disgust. "That guy nearly brought two of us in jail, and now I'm supposed to play nice?"

"You should cut it because I'm your leader. If I were you I'd be more careful, V's my friend and I don't like people talking about my friends like that. When I say leave him alone, you do so. No argument necessary." Weevil replied coolly. It was those moments when he remembered why he didn't like Thumper – he wasn't very good at playing by someone else's rules.

For a moment it looked like Thumper was going to stand up to Weevil and both seemed to have forgotten Wallace who was watching their conversation warily. But just when Thumper opened his mouth and Weevil started to narrow his eyes in anger, Thumper's cell made ringed once. Thumper quickly took it out and his eyes skimmed the text message. Under Weevil's piercing stare Thumper grew nervous first, then slipped back into his usual careless mask.

"Whatever, boss." He stressed the word boss and rolled his eyes. "I gotta go. Have fun with your new buddy here." With that he quickly left the store and Weevil had a feeling like Thumper would have ran out of the store if he had been alone. Who or what was that important to the rebellious biker?

Weevil quickly paid for his stuff without giving Wallace another glance before he hurried outside, just in time to see Thumper starting his engine and driving away. Weevil told the five other guys that they were done for tonight and started his own bike before taking off in the same direction Thumper had sped off to.

Soon enough Weevil spotted the familiar bike in front of him and followed it through the city. He was surprised to find Thumper not driving home to their own part of town but into the suburbs, more specifically the Fitzpatrick's district. Weevil hadn't been here often, but he knew where the infamous pub of the irish mob. The "Fighting Fitzpatricks" were amongst the few people in town Weevil loathed more than anything but would never go after – he wasn't that stupid.

When Weevil saw how Thumper stopped at the side of the street, not far from the pub and then ran off without even locking his bike, Weevil knew something was wrong. He parked his bike next to Thumper's and quickly walked into the street he had seen Thumper disappear in.

When he didn't see anyone, Weevil thought for a moment that he had lost Thumper, but then he heard a voice from not very far. He slowly approached the alleyway to his right. There was a female voice that sounded slightly panicked. Then there was a deep, male laughter. Weevil peered around the corner – and was shocked at the scene in front of him.

Thumper was standing with his back towards Weevil, facing the back of a tall guy with black hair, one of the Fitzpatricks Weevil assumed. Behind the Fitzpatrick there was a very familiar blonde leaning against a wall for support. She had blood on her right cheek and seemed to be a bit roughed up.

"Thumper, where's the back up?" She yelled towards Thumper, her eyes not leaving the Fitzpatrick. Before Weevil could process what her words meant, things were developing faster than he would have liked.

"Leave her alone, Boyd!" Thumper said ignoring Veronica's warning/order. "She's not your problem."

"See that's where you're wrong, little boy." The guy Weevil recognized as Danny Boyd, Liam Fitzpatrick's right hand, corrected Thumper in a half amused, half angry voice. It was a tone that promised nothing but trouble. "Because of you and your little girlfriend here, I'm in Liam's doghouse. That you little bug would get on my nerves that I had expected. And I would have dealt with you like I have dealt with your little biker friend, Reaper, that's what you called him, right? But no, you had to be difficult, you had to bring Mars' nosy daughter in the mix."

Weevil was too shocked to do anything but observe. He couldn't believe that Danny Boyd had gotten rid of Reaper, not Liam. He couldn't even begin to imagine what the connection between Thumper and Veronica was. This couldn't be real, he must be dreaming, he was sure of it. But when he didn't wake up, all he could do was take in what was happening in front of him with a strange feeling of anger that he didn't know at who to direct.

"So what am I going to do with you now, little Veronica? You made my life pretty uncomfortable by sticking your nose in my business. Why did you have to try and clear that kid? Didn't you learn anything from your father's fate? What can I do to make sure you learned your lesson this time around?" Boyd questioned loudly, his voice mocking the fear in Veronica's eyes. He held her tazer in his hand and tapped it against his other hand while pretending to contemplate. "I know. Let's have you taste your own medicine. I somehow doubt you're even allowed to carry around something with this high voltage. Can you take what you dish, little Veronica?" Boyd asked menacing. Those words combined with Boyd stepping closer to Veronica, starting to invade her personal space, finally ripped Weevil out of his trance. He couldn't just stand idly by while his friend was hurt, even if it looked like Veronica had some explaining to do.

* * *

**One day earlier, Saturday Morning****, round about 9a.m. **

When Veronica walked into the church it took a few seconds until her eyes got used to the dim light in the church. While she was walking down the aisle she noticed that were few others present. Three people were sitting in the rows, one in the front row, the other two in the back of the church. She figured that it wasn't that surprising, after all it was early morning and the confessions only started in about 20 minutes.

After waking up in Logans arms earlier this morning, she had decided to get right on Thumper's case –distraction was a beautiful thing. While she knew that the Fitzpatricks weren't someone one should piss off, she found the danger attached to this case exhilarating now. It forced her to concentrate on the task at hand rather than dwell on the fact that she had turned to Logan in her moment of weakness.

Since it was Saturday she had gotten away with sneaking out of Logan's embrace this morning and avoiding thinking about him ever since she had left the beach and a still sleeping Logan behind. Without school there was no reason she would have to see Logan for the next 48 hours and until Monday morning she would have her defenses back up.

Arriving at the front, Veronica turned to the side and walked towards the St. Mary's stature, passing an old lady that had her eyes close and her hands folded in a prayer. Veronica took a candle and lightened it with the flame of another one then put it too down in front of the stature.

_Do I feel guilty f__or bugging a confessionary? - Yes. But I really am sorry._

After a few moments of silence Veronica turned around again and headed for the confessionary at the side of the church. A movement upfront at the altar caught her eye. She looked to the side and saw the man of the hour – father Patrick.

_Thumper __was right about one thing. Father Patrick Fitzpatrick does look rather unecclesiastical. Definitely the priest I want on my side in a teen knife fight. The only remaining question is, does he just look like the guy who took Thumper's money and betrayed his brother or is there some other evil-doer involved?_

Veronica averted her eyes from the dark clad man just when he turned his head into her direction and walked on towards the confessional. When she got inside she let her purse glide to the floor and pulled the tiny camera out of her jacket pocket. She looked at the ceiling of the confessionary and quickly decided that the corner above the entrance was the best place to install the camera in. Thanks to the nearly not existent light the odds of it staying there undiscovered were pretty good.

"I'm going to hell" Veronica muttered under her breath when she moved the little stool to reach up to install the camera. "It's that simple. I am going straight to hell."

After having adjusted the camera, she quickly put the stool back into place and picked up her bag. With one last glance up at the camera Veronica rushed out of the confessionary, feeling everything but comfortable about what she had just done. She knew that it was the only way to see what would happen to Thumper's money later on during confession hours, but she still felt bad about it. She wasn't religious or even catholic, but still – one just didn't bug a confessionary, period.

Coming out of the confessionary she ran right into a strong and muscle-packed male chest. Taken by surprised and feeling caught, she quickly took a step back until she felt her back hit the confessionary behind her. She looked up and found herself face to face with no other than Patrick Fitzpatrick, the priest of the Irish gangster family.

He looked down on her with a blank face and since she could barely make out his eyes, she didn't know whether he was suspicious of her or not. For a second she wished she hadn't come alone, but then she quickly told herself to get her act together. Whining wouldn't get her anywhere in this situation.

"Confessions don't start until in a few hours." Father Patrick informed her in a leveled voice.

"Yes, right, I must have mixed up the times. I'm not from around here and I thought my aunt had said it was Saturday morning. Sorry."

"Well, if you're new in town, I'll make an exception for you." Father Patrick offered with a smile that looked more like a grimace to Veronica. She winced slightly, thinking that he really looked more like your usual street gangster than like a priest.

"Uh, that's really not necessary, father. I was just stopping by for… confession before going over to a friend. She just texted me whether or not I could come earlier, so everything fits together perfectly. I'll just… swing by later on, like everybody else." Veronica quickly improvised. She'd rather have a date with Liam Fitzpatrick than going into that confessional with his brother to make a confession.

_God knows, I'd have a whole lot to tell. Amongst __minor crimes there are a few things that father Patrick Fitzpatrick wouldn't like a bit._

"If you're sure, alright. But just for your next visit: Cells should be switched off in church." Father Patrick told Veronica in a slightly scolding voice but with an amused undertone that told Veronica that he wasn't really offended or anything. She managed a small smile at his friendly tone.

"Yeah, of course. Sorry." She apologized quickly. "Good day." With that she walked away, willing herself not to start running in a church.

* * *

Veronica knocked on Mac's door and waited for her friend to open up. She wipped on her toes a bit, feeling impatient without really knowing where the feeling was coming from. If she was honest with herself, she had been impatient ever since she had left the beach this morning. Part of her was scared to round the street corners in fear of finding herself face to face with Logan. Another part of her was telling her she was acting stupid and childish – two things she rarely associated with herself nowadays.

Yet she hadn't gone home all day, except for early this morning to get out of yesterday's clothes and put on something new. After her short trip to the church she had put off going to the office too, telling herself that she didn't really need to be there anyways, especially since Mac had left her a voicemail asking Veronica to stop by when she had time. So here she was standing in front of Mac's door, not entirely convinced that she wasn't avoiding her father's office because that was the second place Logan would come look for her – if he was even searching in the first place.

_Of course he's looking for you. He was never one of those who just let things happen in their own time. I bet he's halfway furious with me already for leaving this morning. Knowing him, he'll probably have __found me before Monday, hell even before tomorrow. After all, I have to go home at some point, and if it's just not to worry dad._

The door opened and gave a grateful Veronica the awaited distraction from her thoughts that seemed to revolve around Logan whenever she was alone. Mac smiled widely but just when Veronica wanted to say hello, Mac put her finger to her mouth, gesturing for Veronica to be quiet and follow her.

"So what's up with the secrecy?" Veronica asked when Mac had shut the door to her room behind them. Mac turned around and leaned with the back against the door while Veronica lazily let herself drop onto her new friend's bed.

"I just wanted to save you from my mum. She can be a bit… much, in the beginning."

"Overbearing parent, gotcha." Veronica smiled. "That's nothing I can't handle though, trust me, I'm not gonna be scarred for life that easily."

"Yeah well, I figured I'd first get to know you better before I send you running. See what I'm missing and all that." Mac said returning a small smile. There was a short silence, in which Veronica silently appreciated Mac's words. It had been a while since a girl had told her she appreciated her or friendship. Well, Meg had said something along those lines, but that was different. Meg was a nice girl, nice to everybody and she had known the old Veronica too. Mac on the other side was just getting to know her and chances were that they'd become good friends. A good girl friend, that was something Veronica had missed more than she cared to admit during the last half year.

"You never showed last night…" Mac started slightly unsure but still curious.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that. I was… Something came up." Veronica replied evasively, not willing to share the whole story yet, even though she really liked Mac.

"I guessed it was something along those lines, so I went through with the plan all on my own." Mac declared, trying not to show how proud she was. She knew that for Veronica making these photos on her own wouldn't be that much of an achievement. From what Mac had seen, Veronica was doing a lot on her own, if not just about everything.

"Really?" Veronica asked when excitement swept over her features. She had already had come to terms with the fact that she'd have to go after Froggy and his lover some other time. Preferably before Monday morning. "Did you get a good shot? Do you know who was there with DeMois?"

"Yup I did and yes, I do." Mac laughed, glad that Veronica was as excited as she had been. "And you won't believe it…" Mac trailed off. She pushed herself from the door and went to grab her camera from her desk. She switched it on and handed it to Veronica.

"Oh my god." Veronica said while clicking through the pictures, the inner girl in her speaking. Then she grinned up at Mac. "You know, these would go great with those stupid test questions."

"That's exactly what I thought last night." Mac laughed and Veronica tuned in after a moment.

"I wish I knew who posted that stupid test in the first place." Veronica said after they had sobered up again. "Our Froggy just doesn't seem like that kinda guy, you know?"

"Yeah, about that…" Mac started, set on telling Veronica the truth. It would come out eventually anyways, so Mac had decided that she'd rather fess up than wait for Veronica to figure it out.

But before Mac could finish her sentence, someone knocked on her door. "Mac, could you please drive your car in the garage? Your father's coming home soon and he'll need the driveway." Her mother's voice came through the door, letting Mac's cheek turn slightly red.

"Am I supposed to hide under the bed?" Veronica whispered jokingly, as if they were planning a conspiracy when they heard Mac's mother walk away. Mac rolled her eyes at her friend and grabbed her car key from her desk.

"I'll be back in a few, kay?" She informed Veronica when she walked over to her door. "And then you'll tell me what you got in store for our dear Kimmy."

"Sure thing, I'm gonna share my wisdom with you, eager little student." Veronica laughed and lay back on Mac's bed.

* * *

Logan was driving in his car, when his cell started ringing. He quickly picked it up from the seat next to him and glanced hopefully on the screen. He would have given everything to see Veronica's name on the display. He had been searching for her all morning, first he had stopped by at her apartment, then he had gone to her father's office. But nobody had been home and her car hadn't been at the office either. Truth was, Logan had no idea where else she could be and had therefore given up the search for now. It had been a sobering moment for him to realize that he knew next to nothing about her current life, who her friends were or where they lived, what she did with her free time aside from playing detective. Where she'd hide out from things she didn't want to face.

The caller-ID told him that it was Duncan calling in. Logan frowned and contemplated for a few moments whether or not he should pick up. He and Duncan hadn't been close lately, frankly he had barely thought about him during the last days. Logan remembered vaguely something about a surftrip the guys had talked about at lunch. Dick had mentioned that Duncan and Troy would be going and had asked Logan to come too.

"What's up DK?" Logan answered the call, feeling a bit weird out from his thoughts. Duncan was his best friend, Duncan had always been his best friend since they first met through their parents; how could he be thinking about whether or not to take a call from his best friend?

"Hey Logan. I was just wondering – are you coming with us today? Maybe you could give me a ride? My car's in the car shop."

"I wasn't really coming, I guess. Why don't you ask Troy or something? Aren't you like best friends lately?" Logan questioned, annoyance finding its way into his voice. He wasn't really jealous of Troy, he was more annoyed with Duncan for being this shell of his former self.

He was annoyed that Duncan just refused to face reality and rather hung out with that Troy kid than trying to work things out with Logan, his best friend. They had both lost Lilly and Logan felt like Duncan had left him hanging instead of supporting him like a friend should. Logan knew that everybody had their own way to cope, but while he would never admit it, Logan could have needed someone to lean on after Lilly's death and that someone should have been Duncan. But Duncan had been a coward about everything and apparently still was.

"Troy? No man, that's nothing really. He's just… I was just trying to be nice 'cause he's friends with my parents." Duncan denied the hidden accusation in Logan's question. But Logan knew his best friend too well to buy his excuses. There was something going on and Logan had a pretty good idea what it was.

"And now you noticed that he's after Ronnie, didn't you?"

"Since when do you call her 'Ronnie' again?" Duncan retorted, sounding stunned. Logan silently cursed himself for his slip up. He hadn't really planned on telling Duncan that he and Veronica were somewhat growing closer again. He hadn't planned on hiding it either, he had just decided that he'd wait until there really was something to tell aside from the fact that he had stopped hating Veronica. Besides, with the way Duncan had behaved for the last months, Logan refused to feel guilty about his own feelings for Veronica just because Duncan had changed his mind – again.

"Since you still seem to have feelings for your ex. You didn't deny my question." Logan stated calmly. Duncan wouldn't keep on prying now, cause if he did, he'd have to do some explaining himself. If Logan knew something about Duncan, it was that he didn't like dealing with things that made him uncomfortable.

"So, are you going to give me a ride, or what?" Duncan asked after a minute or so of silence. His tone was casual and carefree, as it usually was nowadays. Logan smiled sadly, he had been right, but it didn't feel good in any way.

"Sure, I'll be there in a few minutes. We just gotta drop by my place and get my stuff before we head to the beach."

"Cool, see you."

"Yeah, see you." Logan repeated and ended the call. It looked like he wouldn't be searching for Veronica again anytime soon. He just hoped that surfing would distract him as much as it usually did. He definitely needed a distraction more than he had needed it in a long time.

* * *

Veronica smiled when Weevil pulled up in front of her and took off his helmet, revealing his usual smirk and a challenging look. One of the reasons they were such good friends was because in a way they both had a similar take on life. They were both people who went after what they want and did what they deemed right and dealt with the consequences later. Weevil was a unreformable bad boy but Veronica wasn't exactly a good girl – hadn't been for a while now. In detention they had gotten to know and respect each other, appreciate the other's wit and the connection that had formed quickly.

"You know," Veronica started when she approached Weevil and reached for the offered helmet. "I've been wondering ever since I got your call…"

"You don't say." Weevil replied sarcastically. Yet he nodded at her, letting her know that he was curious. She started smirking into her helmet and leaned in closely.

"Did you finally tell your boys that you're… you know, gay?" She whispered and barely managed not to laugh out loud at the shock that was written all over his face.

"What? Me? What the…?" Weevil choked, looking into two mirthful blue eyes. Only then he realized that she was messing with him.

"What other reason could there be for –how did you put it when you called me earlier? Something along the lines of: "I'd rather go shopping with you than with the boys." And why, I think you mentioned something about a delicate matter too." Veronica repeated gleefully, reveling in the different emotions passing over Weevil's face. She had a hard time not starting to laugh uncontrollably, but she had a few more lines to land.

"So I, being the clever girl I am, figured that you were looking for a new look – a make over so to say. Goodbye constant black and all that leather and hello pink and nice jackets. Though, I gotta be honest with you, I think violet would look better on you than pink… it would really bring out your eyes."

By now Weevil had recovered from his former shock and slight embarrassment and he now looked annoyed, giving her a "are you done?" look. Veronica erupted into giggles, not noticing that she was still so very close to him. That was until Weevil suddenly shut her visor, without her seeing his hand coming.

"Hey!" She cried but didn't sound too upset since she was still trying to contain her laughter.

"Just for that I'm thinking about letting you ride with a closed visor… and then drop you off somewhere halfway to L.A." Weevil said, sounding annoyed and offended.

"Aw, you wouldn't do that. You need me for a delicate matter, forgot that already?" Veronica teased, ignoring his threats. Speaking the words "delicate matter" in a low husky tone that she had used several times while 'testing' husband for their wife's or fiancées.

"You know" Weevil mimicked her earlier start of the conversation. "You look all innocent and sweet, but I keep on waiting for the horns to grow again." He sounded like he wasn't affected by her words, but due to their closeness Veronica had heard his sharp intake of breath. For some reason she couldn't and didn't want to explain she felt equally weird and happy about getting a reaction from Weevil. They had started their friendship with the occasional flirts at detention and had then grown into a friendship filled with banter and teasing.

"I'm driving to L.A. because I need to buy a birthday present for my little sister, Anna. I know it must sound strange, but I don't really trust that the guys are the best help in finding a present for a five year old girl."

"Oh, so you need my expertise as a shopping assistant?" Veronica questioned amused. "And you couldn't think of someone better than me?"

"You're a girl, right? So you gotta have some clue about what Anna would like. She said she wants something with… dolls." He added the last word slightly uncomfortable.

"Cute, the big bad motorcycle gang leader needs help buying a doll." Veronica smiled. "Alright then, fear not my friend, we'll find something worthy of little Anna." She said, deciding to let this go, after all it was kinda sweet that Weevil was trying this hard for his little sister – and that he had asked her to help him was nice as well. She liked spending time with Weevil when he wasn't around the guys, he was a bit softer and fun to be around. Plus she looked forward to do some shopping of her own in the big city.

Veronica drew away from Weevil and opened her visor before climbing on his bike behind him and putting her arms around him. When he started the motor and sped off, she felt the same excitement and liberating feeling she always felt when Weevil took her for a ride. She would have befriended him just for being taken for a ride from time to time.

"And we'll talk later about my payment!" Veronica yelled against the wind in Weevil's ear. At first she wasn't sure whether or not he had heard her, but then she felt his chest rumble with laughter and knew that he had. She smiled contently and hold on tighter when they drove a sharp curve.

* * *

"That was a day from hell." Weevil told Veronica when they both left what they had before agreed on being the last store they'd hit before driving back to Neptune. Veronica had two bags in her hands while Weevil was carrying a little package of his own – the doll for his sister. It was already wrapped in wrapping paper and it was therefore safe for him to walk around with it in public.

"Aw, come on, it wasn't that bad. I actually had lots of fun today. I think I'll never forget your face when you walked up to that cashier and-" Veronica started, a smirk forming on her face while reliving the moment.

"Cut it, alright? I followed you through too many stores to keep count, the least you can do is not annoy me anymore." Weevil told her and Veronica nodded but still shook silently with laughter.

"Yeah, just keep on laughing. You'll see where it gets you in the end…" He muttered darkly but couldn't help a smile spread over his face when he glanced at the blonde at his side. Her laughter had something contagious, that much he had to admit. Plus he really couldn't have asked for a better help with Anna's birthday present.

Just when Weevil's bike came in sight Veronica's cell started ringing. She gave Weevil a look before she answered the call, slowing down a bit. Weevil understood that he should go ahead and get ready for the drive.

"Hello?"

"You didn't answer to my text. I dropped off the money hours ago. You went and got the video yet?"

"No, something came up. I have stuff to do. I'll get back to you tomorrow."

"Sorry if this interferes with your perfect little life, but this is my ass on the line. I doubt I'll even have until tomorrow. Liam thinks you've wronged him you usually don't have much time proving him wrong. He's one of those shoot first ask then guys."

"And I'm one of the girls who told you not to call her unless it's an emergency." Veronica snapped back annoyed. "Now if you don't mind, I gotta get going. I'll call you once I know more and try be a bit more grateful next time, cause I'm saving said ass." Veronica finished before she ended the call and walked towards Weevil who was already waiting for her.

"Now you look like someone just walked over your dog. Who was that?" Weevil asked when she reached for the helmet he offered her.

"No one worth mentioning." Veronica lied, knowing that if Weevil knew what secret she was keeping from him, he'd be angry. He'd take it personal that she was hiding things like this from him, that she was helping Thumper with something she knew Weevil condemned. If he ever found out he'd make Thumper pay for dealing drugs and working with the Fitzpatricks behind Weevil's back. If he found out about Veronica's involvement…

_Well I guess he'd no longer call me a friend. Plus he'd probably be furious if he found out that Thumper sold me drugs. Oh boy, Veronica, what have you gotten yourself into now?_

"Let's go, I have places to be." Veronica told Weevil curtly and slid on the seat behind him. She appreciated that he didn't prod any further and just accepted her answer – if only it wouldn't make her feel worse about lying to him.

To Be Continued...

* * *

I'll try to update again soon, hopefully within the next 7 days. I hope you liked the Weevil parts of this chapter. I was mighty nervous writing them, cause well, I love Weevil, but there isn't that much insight about him on the show except that he's not that bad of a guy, you know...

Tell me also what you think about the Veronica&Weevil interaction, and before any of you who might ship V/W get their hopes up, there's nothing going to happen between these two. I just think that they have the potential to be more than friends if the circumstances were different, but in this story they'll never get beyond the flirting and teasing thing.

In case you were hoping for a Logan/Veronica confrontation, it'll all come in due time, I promise.

So, this chapter started Saturday morning and ended just about Saturday evening, the next chapter will therefore contain the rest of Saturday and the whole Sunday. Can't wait to hear your thoughts!


	14. Chapter 14

Okay guys, so I don't know what to say. Because I know that words won't cut it in this case. It's been too long. I'm lucky if you're even reading this, so take my apology and a thank you right away.

I'm not gonna make this too long, I just wanted to tell you that I'm FINALLY through with my exams. I'm DONE with school - FOR GOOD. Woah I can't believe it :)

And tomorrow I'm going to London with my bff till sunday. Which is why I'm going to sleep right after I posted this, at point midnight, because I really need to sleep tonight - till sunday there's no sleep planned except the minimum that's necessary ;) Like my cousin said, I'm planning on having a "smashing time in London" :D He's a bit overly british with his english. I'm personally leaning more towards the american english, but whatever. Ha. Anyways, I'm really high on life right now, and I got this chapter written during the last few days, mostly because I felt SO guilty about leaving you guys hanging for so long.

So here it goes, have fun reading, I had fun writing it again, getting the feel of it back ;)

* * *

"_**Slipping down a slide**_

_**I did enjoy the ride**_

_**Don't know what to decide**_

_**You lied to me"**_

_**(Get Over It - Avril Lavigne)  
**_

Veronica pulled up across the street of her father's office. She hadn't gone home last night after all. She had told her father she was staying over at Wallace's, fortunately he didn't know yet that Wallace's mother had joined the anti-Mars-family campaign and sleeping over at her new best friend's place wasn't really an option.

_Best friend. Yeah I guess Wallace really earned that title. I haven't made it easy for him, but he's still sticking around and he's still standing up to his mother for me. __If you ignore all the crap that's going on, with Wallace and Mac in the picture, I got something to be grateful for. I've missed having friends – besides Weevil. He's just no good with the girl talk. He's more of the kind of friend you go to at night when you don't want to go home and can't crash at your other friend's place, because their parents can't stand you._

Veronica was just about to exit her car when she spotted a familiar tall figure leaning in the shadow next to the entrance to the office. She stopped moving and settled back into her seat after she had overcome the first shock. She had avoided the office and home, because deep down she had known that he'd be waiting for her, but seeing her suspicions confirmed was still sobering.

She had tried her best to force thoughts of Logan and of the is-dad-my-daddy issue to the very back of her mind. And in Weevil's company she had done pretty well at that. One of the reasons she loved to have the biker as her friend, was that he never asked questions and always knew how to take her mind off things. Conversation with him was easy and they got each other's humor. And there were those few bits of enjoyable flirting here and there.

But now being on her own and with Logan just across the street, she knew that she couldn't face him yet. She was aware that she would have to talk to him eventually, she owed him that much, but still… now wasn't right time. Not yet.

_Not ever if that__'s possible._

Veronica shook her head at the senseless thoughts running loops in her mind. She didn't want to face some things, but knew that she eventually would have to. For now though, she had to do something about Thumper, because if she didn't figure something out soon, he'd walk right into Logan. They had a meeting scheduled for in about five minutes to watch the footage from the confessional together. Veronica had sent him a text right after she had left the church this morning to meat with her and she was pretty sure that he's be eager and right on time.

With a sigh Veronica took out her cell and dialed quickly. After three rings she got an answer.

"Hello?"

"It's me, where are you?"

"I'm parking not far from your office. I was just about to come and-"

"I don't see a motor cycle anywhere." Veronica interrupted him while she looked along the street for a motor cycle she missed.

"That's because I didn't take my bike. You said it yourself, we gotta be careful. I took my sister's car." Thumper explained grudgingly. Veronica smiled amused, figuring that Thumper didn't like having to leave his bike at home and driving his sister's car on top of it.

"Huh, I didn't know you had a sister." Veronica commented.

"And that's the way it should be. Now what do you want that can't wait two minutes?"

"Logan's standing outside my office. I'd rather not run into him and explain your presence."

"Trouble in paradise?" Thumper asked, now it was his turn to be amused at Veronica's discomfort.

"Paradise? Hardly. We do go to the same school, right?" Veronica retorted annoyed while silently wondering whether Thumper knew more than he led or if he was just teasing her and had no idea that she and Logan were back on friendly terms.

"Well, all I know is that this is the second time he's looking for you. I saw him come out of your office before our last meeting."

"Well" She mimicked his words. "What I know is that you've been at my office too and last time I checked neither you nor I were anywhere close to paradise." Veronica said abruptly, suddenly feeling the need to quickly change the topic. "Now not that it's not nice to chat with you, but I'd suggest we meet somewhere else if you want to have this videotape."

"Alright, follow me, I know where we won't be disturbed or seen." Thumper replied and a second later all that Veronica heard was the dial tone and a distant roaring of a car coming to life.

* * *

"I don't get it." Thumper said half desperately half angry when the screen of Veronica's laptop showed how Danny Boyd took the money Thumper had not long before deposited in the confessional. "They got the money. Why is Liam then claiming he didn't get it and is threatening me? It makes no sense!"

"Ssh." Veronica said annoyed while carefully watching the screen. She had to admit that she was about as clueless as Thumper, but she knew that whatever they were missing had to be literally right in front of her. "I'm trying to think here, chicken."

"Do you know what the Fitzpatricks do to you when you're stealing their money?" Thumper asked half upset at her comment, half upset at the thought of having to face Liam's wrath. Unjustified or not, he doubted that would change the punishment. "It's not pretty." Thumper added, sounding slightly calmer, though he really was just scared.

"Hah, gotcha!" Veronica suddenly exclaimed. Thumper looked down at her and found her still staring at the screen.

"Got what?" He asked while he followed her gaze. He was now watching Liam Fitzpatrick himself double checking the place where the money had been before Danny had gotten it.

"Liam wasn't lying when he said he didn't get your money. He really did get betrayed – just not by you." Veronica said triumphantly, as usually feeling that rush of victory at having solved a crime. "Looks like Danny boy is upping his payment on your expenses."

"Shit." Thumper exclaimed. "What a bastard. Now I just gotta get this video to Liam before he has me killed."

"No problem Veronica said, she had already burned the video on a dvd while they were watching it, figuring that a copy would be useful one way or another. She handed Thumper the disk and was a bit relieved knowing that this was the end of the secret meetings. "There you go, my job is done. Consider never speaking of our past business the payment for saving your ass from the Fitzpatricks."

"You got yourself a deal there. It was nice doing business with you, Mars." Thumper smirked and was obviously relieved.

"Wish I could say the same." Veronica replied sweetly. "But seriously, no more favors."

"No more favors." Thumper agreed before he climbed out of her car and walked over to his own vehicle.

The minute Thumper had climbed out of her car, Veronica's cell began to ring. It was Logan calling her. Again. Chances were that he was going to leave her what must be the 30th message on her voice mail. Veronica had to admit that while his persistency was annoying, it also was a tad bit flattering, a part of her liked to believe that it was a sign that he really meant it. That he was becoming the Logan she once loved again.

Remembering how sweet Logan had been to her on that beach caused her to feel guilt creeping inside her mind. He had been there to comfort her, had appeared out of thin air like an angel. He had held her while she cried, comforted her in a way only he had ever been capable of. While she didn't like to admit it, Veronica knew that he was the best person she could have wished for to comfort her after learning the news she had about her father.

Still, while before that night Veronica had been more annoyed with his tries to rekindle their friendship than anything else, she was starting to feel a bit scared now. Before she had been tempted to give in because of the past, but she had always known that she wouldn't, because she had grown stronger and independent and would never allow herself to just forgive Logan for what he had done and trust him again. She never thought she was capable of forgiving him entirely and therefore, in her mind, she had done both of them a favor in not letting them form a friendship of any sort.

Now though Logan had more than just the past on his side. The night on the beach wasn't something Veronica could just dismiss and she knew it. Which was exactly why she was trying so hard to avoid him. She had given in to him that night and it scared her how naturally it had felt to wake up in his arms the next morning. Sure, she had been week and had longed for someone to lean upon, but Logan was probably the worst choice she could have made, considering her current situation.

_I can't believe I actually told him what was going on too. Now he knows. He knows what nobody should know. How could I have been so stupid, he might just go around school tomorrow and taunt me with this new information._

Veronica didn't really belive that Logan would do that. A few weeks ago, she would have bet on it, but now she wasn't so sure about anything regarding him anymore. It shocked her to realize that she really didn't believe Logan would use what happened on the beach against her.

_When did I start trusting Logan Echolls with anything again?_

Deciding that she had to figure some things out before she talked to Logan, Veronica climbed out of her car, locked it and walked towards the beach. A nice walk would hopefully help clear her mind.

* * *

Being yet another time directed to the voice mail in which he was sweetly asked to leave yet another message caused Logan to throw his cell at the wall of his room, from where it fell down on the opposite side of the bed. He was lying on his bed and stared at the ceiling, growing more and more frustrated.

The lengths Veronica would go to to avoid him were unbelievable. Last night he had waited till the early morning for her in front of her apartment building, only to find that she must be spending the night elsewhere. She of course didn't take his calls or answered to the million messages he had left her on her voice mail. She didn't go to her office. Logan was starting to wonder whether she'd even show up for school tomorrow.

The worst part was that he couldn't stop thinking about her. He remembered well what she had told him on the beach and how long she had cried. He had never seen Veronica that shaken, except maybe for the night of Lilly's death when she had come to see him. That seemed like ages ago. So much had changed. The pain of Lilly's death had become a dull ache, taking a back seat to the everyday life. After yesterday's surf trip Logan doubted that he would ever get his old best friend Duncan back, the guy he used to know seemed to be so far gone, fading into the new unfeeling Duncan.

And things with Veronica… Logan was determined not to give up, but his confidence was slowly starting to crumble. At the beach he had thought while he had drifted off to sleep that they had made progress, when he had woken up alone he had been furious and hurt. But seeing that Veronica was doing everything to avoid facing him, he started to wonder whether or not he had ruined his chance with her. Maybe he should have left her alone, she had always been a private person, more so now than when they had still been friends. She had never liked people seeing her in weak moments, which was probably one of the reasons she'd push him away even more insistent now than before.

A knock on his door interrupted Logan's thoughts. Before he could invite anyone in, he heard how the door was pushed open and a familiar voice called out his name, causing him to sit up straight on his bed.

* * *

Veronica wasn't sure how long she had been sitting in the sand now, absentmindedly playing with the sand around her while staring out onto the water. And she was just about as clueless as to how long she had been wandering along the beach before sitting down. But what she knew was that she was sick of thinking about Logan Echolls. Of overthinking everything. It was slowly driving her crazy and usually not being one to be easily shaken that annoyed her to no end.

_Okay, so I've established with all freaked-out and scared-shitless parts of my mind that I can't get around having a talk with Logan. So why am I still sitting here, stalling?__ Get a grip Veronica and just call him already!_

Before she could lose the new found courage again, Veronica quickly got out her cell and dialed Logan's number – she had never deleted it from her cell and highly doubted that Logan had changed it in the last months. Logan was very private about his number, it probably just came with being the sun of a A-list movie star like Aaron Echolls. Veronica smiled bittersweetly while she listened to the dial tone, remembering how she used to joke that she wasn't even sure if Aaron had Logan's number when she was asked for it by some fan girl.

"Yeah?" A annoyed voice answered the call after many rings, just when Veronica had been about to end it. Veronica could tell that something was bothering Logan and had to hold back the instinctive question about what was going on. It wasn't her place anymore. Even though Logan seemed to want it to be her place again.

"Hi." Veronica whispered without noticing it. She quickly caught herself, cleared her throat and repeated the greeting, this time in a voice closer to her normal one. "Hi, it's me."

"Ronnie?" Logan asked, the surprise evident in his voice and Veronica could picture how his face lit up with surprise. "I didn't expect you to call me back."

"Yeah, well, I am calling you back now."

"What happened? Did the 31th voice mail change your mind?" Logan asked, slightly put off by her cold and flippant demeanor. He immediately wished he hadn't said it with so much sarcasm though, knowing that she would just get angry and he really didn't want to fight with her again.

"Maybe I just figured that you must be incapable of taking a hint and decided to tell you personally to leave me the hell alone?" Veronica replied in a dangerously calm voice.

Logan was silent for a moment. He had expected her to blow up at his comment and was unsure how to react to her calm words. He knew he was threading thin ice now. After weighing his options he settled for a change of topics.

"Regardless of why you're calling, I'm glad you did." Logan started, figuring that it was good to start off nicely. "I've been trying to speak with for the last 24 hours."

"I noticed." Veronica said, partly glad partly disappointed that he wasn't out for a fight. "I'm assuming you got something to say then."

"Clever girl." Logan commented, slight annoyance creeping back into his voice. She really wasn't making it easy and he wasn't in the best mood anyways after just having had a rather unpleasant conversation with his father. "First off, I wanted to make sure you're okay. You just took off yesterday morning and the last thing I remember, you passed out after-"

"I'm fine, thank you." Veronica interrupted him, not interested to hear him sum that night up. She heard him sigh over the line and felt her resolve soften a bit, she didn't mean to frustrate him, but it was just so hard and weird talking to him again. She couldn't not make biting comments, they just came naturally.

Logan stood up from his bed and started pacing. This was harder than he had imagined. All this time he had just known that he needed to see her, to talk to her, but he had never really thought about what he wanted to say. He knew that it was important to say the right things now, it was his chance to make her see that they could be friends again. Maybe his only chance.

"Do you think we could meet up? I'd much rather do this in person and-" Logan started, but was once again interrupted.

"There's no need for that. I know what you want to say."

"Oh you do?" Logan asked. _Funny, she knows but I don't._

"Yeah, You're gonna somehow make my moment of weakness a point in your agenda to get my friendship. You're gonna swear you mean it and that you got no master plan or hidden agenda, you'll say that you actually care about me and just wanna be my friend. I'm gonna dismiss your promises, since I've seen how much our friendship meant to you, I'm not gonna be able to trust your words, for which you can hardly blame me." Veronica stopped and was silent for a few seconds. Then, when she felt that he was going to speak up again, she quickly continued. "I don't like it when people see me weak, because that usually gives them the wrong expression."

_Or the right one. Oh shut up mind._

"I am not weak. I'm not the innocent, sweet Veronica I used to be and we both know it. So you better don't claim that I need you for anything ever again, because I don't. You just happened to be there Friday night, how or why I don't know, but you were. And I'm glad about that. I needed someone right then. I could have managed it on my own, but it was good I wasn't alone. But it could have been anybody, I wasn't needing you, do you understand that?"

"Yeah." Logan said hoarsely, all his hopes of making progress with Veronica falling apart. She was picking all his arguments apart and while he knew it wasn't entirely true, that there was a difference between him and just anyone, he knew she'd never admit that.

"That being said, I'm glad it was you." Veronica admitted suddenly. She hadn't meant to share that with him, but he had sounded so defeated and sad that it had just slipped.

"What?" Logan asked confused.

"I'm glad you were there for me. It was good, it felt familiar, it felt… right." Veronica continued, not knowing what was coming out of her mouth.

"I know what you mean. It felt like getting something back that was missing." Logan said, a smile spreading over his face. He couldn't believe that Veronica was talking to him, really talking and admitting things, not just dismissing him. Maybe not all hope was lost.

"Yeah. Anyways, I just wanted to say thanks, you know. For being there." Veronica said, a smile similar to the one on Logan's face starting to spread over her face too. She had intended to tell Logan off during this conversation and had no clue how things had just turned around this quickly, but she couldn't deny that she liked it. Logan had been right, it was like getting something back that had been missing for way too long.

"No problem, anything for you Ronnie." Logan replied smiling genuinely. A few moments of silence followed, giving both time to savor the feeling. But then Veronica's phone vibrated shortly, telling her that she had a new text message. Taking a short look, she saw that it was from Thumper. She frowned, wondering what he could want, but figured that it must be something important. Realizing that Logan was still on the phone, she got annoyed with herself, for a few minutes she had let herself forget all the things she had had to endure during the last six months and had given in – again. But all those reasons she had to refuse Logan's outstretched hand of friendship came rushing back to her now. She wouldn't be fooled or hurt by Logan Echolls ever again.

"Look Logan, don't get me wrong, but this doesn't change anything between us. I can't do friends, but I don't want to fight you anymore either. Can't we just let bygones be bygones and move on with our lives?" Veronica asked, hoping desperately that he would just let it go. Too late she noticed the shadow that had appeared next to her and she never saw the hit coming that knocked her immediately unconscious.

* * *

"No, we can't, because-" Logan was this time interrupted by the dial tone. "What the hell…?" Logan muttered, surprised and angry. He couldn't believe she had just hung up on him. What was wrong with that girl? This wasn't the first time she had changed from hot to cold within mere seconds without an explanation and now she had even hung up on him. Just like that.

Logan called her back but all he got was the voice mail. "You gotta be kidding me!" Logan exclaimed angrily and threw away his cell for the second time on this day.

_**"It took me by surprise**_  
_** Now are you gratified**_  
_** You cried to me**_

_** La, la, la, la, la "**_

* * *

Okay, so that was it - for now. I know it's a cliffy. And that sucks. And I'm sorry. If I wasn't going to London tomorrow I'd get right to writing the next chapter, but I really can't. And I figured it's better I give you these 3660 words than nothing. However, I'm gonna tell you, that I've completely gone off script with this chapter. I had chapter fourteen totally planned out months ago, I was gonna totally wrap up the THumper thing and that was gonna be the last you'd see of that biker guy, but when I started writing this, I don't know, I just got carried away and instead of no Logan, there ended up a V/L conversation. The advantage is that I know what the next chapter will include - all the stuff I didn't put in here because of my moody muse ;)

Oh, I too got my driver's licence, I'm guessing you don't know that either :D

Well, if my good mood's going to last (and chances are good it will) I'm gonna try to post some teasers on sunday, though it might be late. If I'm not updating on sunday or monday, you can just bug me via reviews, PMs or twitter (my name's PlayedByLife, find and follow me, I'm gonna keep you updated about my writing progress ;), I'll see if I manage to get a link on my profile) - really a kick in my bottom helps me from time to time to sit down and START writing. Once I've started it's usually just a question of time.

Hah, it did get a longer A/N than I expected.

Oh, on a last note, it was a PAIN to find lyrics for this chapter, because right now "Who says" by Selena Gomez is on a LOOP in my head (yeah, I'm shocked too, I'm blaming my bff - she's a bad influence musical wise, next thing I'll be humming miley cyrus)...


	15. Chapter 15

Kay, so this chapter is a collection of short scenes, especially in the beginning VERY short scenes. But they get longer as the chapter goes. This chapter has nearly 5000 words and is therefore a bit longer. Have fun reading and thanks for the amazing feedback.

* * *

Chapter 15

"_**And I need you like a heartbeat  
But you know you got a mean streak  
Makes me run for cover when you're around**_

_**And here's to you and your temper**_  
_**Yes, I remember what you said last night**_  
_**And I know that you see what you're doing to me**_  
_**Tell me, why?"**_

_**(Tell Me Why – Taylor Swift)**_

* * *

Thumper left the Fitzpatrick's bar with a satisfied smile on his face. As if someone had looked out for him, he had gotten to speak with Liam alone and Boyd hadn't been around to defend himself when Thumper showed the irish gangster the video. Liam had been furious once he had caught on and had ordered one of his guys to get Danny. He had then told Thumper that he was in the clear again and to get lost.

He felt like a free man again and was more than eager to get back on his bike and meet with the rest of the gang for a drive out of town. There was nothing like driving his bike to celebrate his regained freedom.

* * *

When Danny Boyd was called by one of his friends and told that Liam was searching for him and why, he knew he was in trouble. Liam didn't take stolen money lightly – and the fact that Danny was his right hand and one of the few people Liam trusted, didn't exactly help the matter. If the Irish didn't react well to something, it was betrayal.

Wondering how the biker kid could have gotten the incriminating video Danny remembered something. The day before he had met with The Priest, in Liam's name of course, and had seen Father Patrick talk to a little blonde that looked a lot like Keith Mars' daughter. In his time as acting sheriff Mars had put quite a few off Liam's guys and family in jail and had therefore been well known and hated by the Fitzpatrick clan. Shortly before Mars had gotten thrown out of office because of the whole Kane mess, Liam had contemplated getting back at Keith Mars with a plan that involved his wife and his daughter. The plan was never executed because of the events following Lilly Kane's death, but Danny knew Veronica Mars' face well enough now.

A discreet question, more out of curiosity than anything else, had gotten him no real information from Father Patrick and therefore he had quickly moved on. But the fact that Veronica had been there and that her father was a private dig was a bit too much of a coincidence considering that damned video.

A few calls later Danny had found the connection between Thumper and Veronica – they went to the same school. "That little bitch." Danny said before he got out his cell to call the few people he knew would still help him and went out to search for the blonde that had gotten him into quite a mess. If he was going down, he'd make sure she'd go with him.

* * *

Ice cold water rushed over her face and brought her back to the conscious world. She blinked a few times and quickly realized that she was inside a van, held firmly by two muscular guys. Before Veronica could take a closer look at their faces or her surroundings, the door of the van was opened and sun light was filling the semi dark. She was grabbed roughly by a man standing right in front of her view of the sun and pulled out of the van.

"Veronica Mars. How nice of you to meet with me." A rough, deep voice murmured in her ear before she was shoved away from the guy. She stumbled forward trying to regain her balance but just when she had thought she had managed it she was shoved again and fell down. Laughter erupted from behind her when she hit the asphalt and scratch her knees and elbows. She rose from the ground to the sound of a van driving off. She leaned against a wall and faced the man who obviously had it out for her. Danny Boyd.

* * *

"Leave her alone!" Weevil stepped into the alley and quickly approached Boyd, passing Thumper without a side glance. He'd deal with Thumper later, for now they were all on the same side – the one that was against Boyd.

"Now who do we have here?" Danny asked when he turned around. "Yet another biker, there's gotta be a nest somewhere around here. This is a private party kid, so you better leave now." The 'while you still can' remained unsaid, but the threat was obvious.

"What if I happen to like crashing parties?"

"Then this might be your last one."

"The way I see it, you're alone here Boyd and my guys will be here any second. Now you might be built like a truck, but I doubt you can take on 20 of us." Weevil replied coolly. He didn't cower like Thumper did, he didn't keep his distance from Boyd but stood right in front of him. Of course he knew the danger as well and that his words were nothing but a bluff, but he also knew that admitting to that or showing weakness meant losing the game before it began. He was a leader and a great poker player.

"I wouldn't be so sure, kid. If your 'guys' too turn up one by one, I'm just gonna-" Boyd started menacingly, clearly not believing Weevil. But before he could finish the sentence Veronica spoke up and interrupted the little staring match Boyd and Weevil had going on.

"I think your attention is asked for elsewhere, Danny Boy." She sounded a bit too gleefull for everybody's taste. Weevil and Boyd threw her annoyed and confused glances. She just grinned at them and motioned in the opposite direction. Three heads turned and found themselves looking at Liam Fitzpatrick and about five other guys. The Fitzpatrick leader looked positively angry.

"Liam, I can explain!" Danny quickly began, but was shut up by a menacing look that Liam shot him.

"Save that for later. Now what do we have here?" He asked, now addressing the little group in front of him. His eyes lingered on Veronica's and Thumper's face for a few seconds before he settled his eyes on Weevil. Veronica wondered for a second whether he had already figured out what was going on and whether he would expose Thumper's part in his drug business.

"Danny, care top explain this little gathering here? I wouldn't want to assume that you're now collaborating with this biker kid here and want to take over the clan." Liam said sarcastically and disdainfully. Danny wisely stayed quiet.

"I see this was supposed to be a private party, how rude of me." Liam said after a few seconds of silence. "However, you" He looked straight at Danny "are coming with me now. Guys." That was all the command his fellows needed, as they now started closing in on Danny, who admittedly didn't even try to put up a fight.

"Farewell Danny Boy!" Veronica said with a grin when Danny shot her death glares over his shoulder and mouthed something that probably was some threat of some sorts. She had full faith in Liam to make sure that Danny was in no way capable of hurting her anytime soon.

"Now for you three, I don't like any of you. So that makes me wonder why you're currently on my territory. Since I got to deal with Danny Boy here, I'd advise you to leave this part of the town as fast as possible, because you wouldn't want me to find you somewhere around here later on." Liam said when Danny was carried away. He turned around and followed his men, leaving three very relieved and very lucky teenagers behind.

"Now, any of you two willing to explain?" Weevil asked after about a minute of silence. He looked at Thumper while speaking, but soon turned towards Veronica, his eyes boring accusingly into her guilty ones.

"Look, Weevil, it's not what it looks like…" Veronica started, not sure what to say and how to soften the blow. Chances were that Weevil would hate her ones he got the whole picture and she really couldn't blame him if he did.

"So tell me Veronica, what does it look like?" Weevil asked sarcastically, using her full name for the first time in a long time. "Cause I sure as hell am a bit confused here. I thought I was your only biker affair." Veronica glared at him at his last words, both knew very well that she wasn't a slut like the rumors made her out to be.

"Funny, Weevil. I must have forgotten those times that we had an affair. Though, I seem to have missed out on the minute you morphed into a complete asshole as well." Veronica shot back, hating to hear the rumors Logan started thrown back into her face by someone she thought was her friend. He didn't even give her the benefit of the doubt. She had trusted him when he had told her that he was innocent in the whole credit card fraud debacle.

_Well, I'm not exactly pleading innocent in this matter. I lied to him, I kept the truth from him._

"It was just for a case, alright?" Veronica quickly said before Weevil could retort anything that could cause her to say anything she'd regret later on. "I ended up exposing Danny's dirty business to Liam. And since everybody knows that Liam doesn't take people stealing his money too well, Danny wanted to get back at me."

"Really. And what is Thumper doing here? Why did you call him?" Weevil asked, obviously this was the real matter. He knew Veronica well enough to know that she always managed to get herself in trouble somehow.

Veronica sighed. This was harder than she had feared. She tooks a few steps towards Weevil, glad that her hurting legs could still carry her. She took Weevil's hand instinctively, searching for a link between them while she could literally see their friendship slipping. Weevil's eyes followed her motions and settled on their joined hands.

"It's a long story, but I took the case on for Thumper. He was accused of stealing that money and I cleared his name."

"And what was he doing with the Fitzpatricks?" Weevil asked after a few seconds. Asking the question Veronica had feared he'd ask. The one she had to answer truthfully. She couldn't lie to him, not like that.

"Why are you asking her that, if it's me you wanna know something about?" Thumper suddenly asked loudly, reminding Veronica and Weevil of his presence.

"Because I'm trying to find out why my friend lied to me." Weevil answered simply, not even glancing at Thumper.

"He's-" Veronica started but was interrupted by Thumper himself.  
"I'm selling drugs for the Fitzpatricks. There. Just because you won't take their money, doesn't mean I don't. I'm fine with taking money from those stupid little 09ers and if I need the Fitzpatricks to do so, I'll do business with them."

"And you knew that." Weevil said to Veronica, disappointment in his eyes. Before she could even nod he pulled his hand out of hers as if he had been burned and turned around. "You come with me. Now." He said to Thumper and walked towards his bike. "And we're through." He said over his shoulder, this time addressing Veronica.

* * *

It was Monday morning and Veronica sat in her car, her head leaned against the wheel. She was trying to work up the courage to climb out of the car. She hadn't dreaded going to school this much in quite some time. But today was gonna be a day from hell, she just knew it. Her dad had been questioning her on her strange behavior during the last week and she doubted that he had bought her stories of sleeping over at Wallace's all the time. She couldn't really blame him though, she wouldn't have bought her own lies.

Then there was the thing with Logan, she knew she had to try and talk to him, she'd have to apologize for the abruptly end of the call. When she had called him up yesterday, she had wanted to talk and a part of her had hoped that he'd somehow make her agree to try it again as friends. The thing was, she really wanted to try it again, but her heart and her head had a bit of a disagreement there. Whenever he was nice or saying things that reminded her of the old Logan, she remembered the times he had played her shortly after Lilly's death, always pretending to suddenly have forgiven her, only to shatter the thin trust she had built again by humiliating her in front of her classmates. Logan had done a great job at destroying the trust she had once put into him and a part of her wasn't sure she could ever trust someone like that again – especially Logan.

But going to school didn't just mean facing Logan, it also meant seeing Weevil again. She wasn't entirely sure how he'd react to seeing her again, but she had a feeling like he'd give her the silent treatment. People would quickly catch on and new rumors would start. Not that she was really bothered by the rumors anymore, it just… it sucked that she'd lose a friend and get annoying comments about from everybody else. Besides, there would be a lot more idiots trying to play prank master on her now that she didn't have Weevil's protection anymore.

_It's not like I'm not doing fine enough on my own and I always told Weevil to stay out of my business, but it was still nice. Saved me a lot of time and thought. Plus he was a really good friend._

Veronica sat back again and saw in the rearview mirror how Mac was approaching her car and alongside with her Wallace. Both were smiling and talking and it reminded Veronica of the small glances of normalcy she had come to enjoy lately when hanging with her "normal high school friends". Maybe she could do this after all. This wasn't worse than the last few months, she had friends now and a few friendly faces could go a long way.

"Morning you two, you're awfully chipper for a Monday." Veronica greeted them while she closed the car door behind her. She had less trouble than she had expected to put a smile on her face for her two best friends.

"Why not? It's still early in the school year, so there are no tests and today there's always looking forward to what that idiot Cole will do when he finds his car this afternoon." Wallace replied good naturedly and Mac giggled at his last statement. Obviously Veronica's little revenge plot had been a main point in their discussion.

"Ah, the joys of witnessing my genius are making you happy on a Monday morning. I guess that means something."

"You really should be proud." Mac told Veronica in a serious voice but she couldn't contain a smile much longer. "I'm glad we get a word with you though, I've tried calling you yesterday but you never picked up or called back."

"Yeah sorry, I guess you could say I was a bit busy." Veronica half-lied easily. "It's a long story." She added when Mac opened her mouth, undoubtedly to ask what had kept her that busy.

"Ok then, as long as it's done and dealt with…" Mac said, observing her friend closely. Veronica smiled at her and nodded in a agreement.

"Everything's fine, I promise." But just when she said those last words, she spotted Weevil and a few of the other bikers enter the school. Her smile faltered.

"You sure?" Wallace asked, following her look.

"Yeah. Just a bit off my game today." Veronica replied, not willing to talk about her and Weevil. She wasn't sure what to say about that anyways. "Now let's get inside before we're forced to do a pop quiz or something for being late."

* * *

"What do you want?" Logan asked annoyed while he pushed Veronica's hand from his arm and shrugged out of her grip. She had just pulled him into the girl's bathroom of the school that was her unofficial office.

Veronica sighed at his hostile tone. She hadn't liked forcing him in here like she did. She had tried talking to him in a more conventional way, but he had always blown her off and told her that he wasn't interested in a having a word with her. While her mind had told her to just let it go, if he was willing to back off, then she should be happy, but she just couldn't let it go. And she refused to analyze why.

"I want to apologize." Veronica began quickly when Logan started to walk towards the door after a few seconds of silence had passed. "For how the call yesterday ended, I was-"

"You hung up on me. Just like that." Logan interrupted her. "One moment we were talking, like really talking and the next all I hear is 'beep beep'. What am I supposed to make of that, hm Veronica? You always go hot and cold with me and it's starting to get. On. My. Nerves." Logan finished intensely, the frustration was evident in his voice. The better of last night he had laid awake, trying to figure Veronica out and he hadn't gotten anywhere. He just couldn't make sense of her behavior and it was frustrating him to no end. He had finally decided to back off for a while and figure out a new plan, maybe get some more information on this new Veronica, because while he had been able to read his old Ronnie like an open book, the new Veronica was like some sort of advanced math book for the last semester at the MIT. Whenever he thought that he finally understood a word, all his hopes and progresses were crushed with the next line.

"I didn't hang up on you!" Veronica exclaimed offended. Logan gave her a 'yeah right' look and she frowned, she hadn't really realized that he'd see it this way.

"I didn't have any reason to hang up on you, so why would I? I called you after all." Veronica explained, trying to make him see that she wouldn't do something like that. She had told him before, she wasn't punishing him or out to torture him. She just wanted to do what was right for her.

"Geez I don't know. Why did you suddenly get all defensive in the classroom the other day? Why did you just steal yourself away Saturday morning at the beach? Why did you avoid me two full days before you finally got around to call me?"

He had a point. Both of them knew that. Veronica couldn't really explain her behavior. She could hardly tell him, that every time they talked and got carried away, she felt like she was back in her old life, in a kind of perfect life and when Logan then somehow said or did something that reminded her off what had happened she couldn't help but get defensive and shut him out. She couldn't explain to him that his insistent attempts to get her friendship back had indeed made her resolve waver and slowly crumble.

"I see why you'd think I had hung up on you. But I didn't. I swear I didn't. I got interrupted, that's all. I didn't mean to hang up on you." Veronica insisted, trying to make him believe her as well with her words as with her eyes. Logan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He certainly hadn't expected this when he had come to school this morning. Hell he hadn't expected this even when he had been pulled into this bathroom!

"Alright, let's assume that you didn't hang up on me. Let's say something or someone interrupted you, although I'm sure you can't tell me what or who or why you couldn't pick up when I called you back. But that aside, what do you want?" Logan asked, his eyes locked with Veronica's.

"No really, Ronnie. What do you want, because if you just wanted to get rid of me like you always claim, then you could have just left things as they were. You wouldn't have had to drag me in here and try to explain anything. So, what do you want?"

Logan's question caught Veronica off guard, she had expected him to either question her about why she had ended that call yesterday or to try and talk her into trying it as friends again. Veronica contemplated the question and tried to come up with an answer, but if she was honest, she didn't know what to say. She was sure that they couldn't just start over as friends as if nothing happened, but somehow she couldn't just let it go either.

"I… I don't know." Veronica finally managed, sounding about as confused as she felt. She felt Logan draw back. While he had been waiting for her answer, he had subconsciously come a bit closer towards her, his eyes had been begging her to make a decision, to give him another shot. The disappointment at her indecision was obvious and she wondered if it would have been much worse if she had told him to leave her alone. But she couldn't lie to him like that, even if it would have made things easier. She needed to figure out what it she wanted. It couldn't be that hard, right?

"Well, then you better figure it out. Because if you can find it in you to try and start over, I'm willing to do everything to make it work. But if you can't… then I'm not going to spend my time trying to force something on you that you don't want. If you're happy and don't want me in your life, then just tell me and I'll back off."

Veronica looked at Logan silently, at a loss for words and helplessly shrugged with her shoulders. She really didn't know what to say.

"Alright then, I'll wait. You know where to find me if you ever realize what it is you want." Logan said quietly, defeat in his voice. For a few seconds he had gotten his hopes up – again. He turned and walked towards the bathroom door, he pushed down the handle and stopped for a second without turning around. "Just don't keep me waiting for too long, alright?" When he opened the door to leave, he found that someone else was just trying to get in.

Weevil walked in past Logan, his eyes quickly finding Veronica's. "Well, who do we have here."

Veronica's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected Weevil to talk to her again any time soon. Her delight quickly faded though, when she realized what Weevil must think of her now. It was no secret that he hated Logan Echolls. And since he had befriended Veronica only after Lilly's death, she doubted that he'd understand if she now changed her mind about Logan and became friends with him again.

"Weevil, it's not what-" She started, glancing from Weevil to Logan, who had let the door close again, obviously curious as to what was coming next.

"What it looks like? What I think it is?" Weevil supplied. "That's the second time in 24 hours that you're trying to sell me that line." Weevil turned to Logan and smirked at him. "I must say you might just be in excellent company this time. The spoiled brat and the lying-" He told Logan but was interrupted before he could finish.

"Don't insult her, paco." Logan quickly, anger welling up in his eyes. He was very willing to take just about every excuse to set this guy straight and here he was, giving him the perfect excuse.

"Now wait a minute, am I interrupting something in here? Is Logan Echolls trying to make new friends?" Weevil started, obviously surprised that Logan Echolls would defend one Veronica Mars.

"Stop it you two!" Veronica exclaimed frustrated. "Look, Weevil, I get you're angry, you have every right to. I'm sorry I didn't tell you what was going on, but I was afraid to lose you as my friend. Which I did in the end and that sucks. But that doesn't give you the right to waltz in here and try to insult me or start a fight." Veronica said, catching Weevil's eyes with hers. They were having a silent conversation, mainly because neither of them wanted to reveal anything of what had happened to Logan. Veronica silently hoped that Logan wouldn't do anything to provoke Weevil.

"I'll just leave you two to deal with your own business." Logan said and left the bathroom, after Veronica had sent him a grateful look.

"Great." Veronica said once Logan had left the room. "So, why do you suddenly need to talk to me so badly that you're ruining my business?" She asked Weevil, knowing that she was once again lying to him, this time about Logan, but she knew that trying to explain to Weevil now what was going on would only add oil to the fire. Besides, it was none of his business who her friends were.

"I just wanted to let you know that I've dealt with Thumper, so your little secret's safe." Weevil said casually.

"My little secret?" Veronica questioned cautiously, hoping that Thumper didn't tell Weevil that she used to buy drugs from him.

"I kicked him out of the gang and he tried very hard to get back in. Told me something interesting about how you two met in the first place. You know, thinking about it, it's kinda strange that you would just help out a biker who you knew was selling drugs. I thought you didn't take on drug dealers as clients."

"It was a one time thing. I was stupid, I stopped. It's not like I was an addict or something, alright." Veronica sighed, quickly deciding to tell Weevil the truth. She had never told anybody about the days after Lilly's death and after the rape. Partly because no one knew about the rape. "I had been out for a case one night and accidently ended up with a dosed drink. It was the first time I slept through a night in a long time. The first time I didn't cry myself to sleep. For a bit it seemed like the drugs helped, like it was a solution. But I knew it wasn't and I stopped taking them. It's not a big deal, really. And it was before we even started talking." _Though not very long before._

Weevil stared at her for a few more minutes, remaining silent and impassive. He was silently fighting with himself. A part of him was concerned for her, he had known that it had been bad for Veronica back when they had first started talking, but he hadn't known just how bad. Plus he had a feeling that there was something she wasn't telling him. But the other part of him felt still betrayed by her lies and her dealings with Thumper. She knew how he felt about the Fitzpatricks and drug dealing. Yet she kept the fact from him that Thumper was dealing with the Fitzpatricks.

"I better not find out that you're taking any drugs ever again. They are not a solution." Weevil finally said.

"I know." Veronica replied, not sure how to interpret his words. "And I'm really sorry." She added.

"Me too. I thought I could trust you." Weevil admitted.

"You can! I didn't tell you about Thumper because I was afraid you'd find out about me taking drugs and then because I was afraid you'd be angry that I kept the truth from you all this time. But I promise I'll be honest with you from now on, if you'll forgive me."

"Alright, I guess that's fair enough." Weevil agreed and a smile spread over his face. "Besides, you really need someone who looks after you, first Thumper and the Fitzpatricks and now Logan Echolls, you really need to be careful with who you meet away from other people's sights." Weevil joked and Veronica smiled, ignoring her guilty conscious. She'd tell Weevil the truth about Logan once she had figured out what she wanted. There was no reason to start an argument if she ended up telling Logan to just move on.

"_**Where's my will**_

_**Can I find a way**_

_**The earth is wild**_

_**And I can't stand still**_

_**A familiar sound**_

_**A familiar voice**_

_**Makes it so hard **_

_**To make a choice"**_

_**(I Don't Know If I Should Stay – Alexz Johnson)**_

* * *

I hope you don't think that V was too mean in this chapter too^^ I know it's frustrating, especially since Veronica can't make up her mind and she's keeping Weevil in the dark once again. But I promise it'll all disolve in the next chapter - and you'll like her decision once she's made up her mind.

I'm gonna go more AU with this story than I had originally planned... The next chapter or so will have Lynn's jump from the bridge in it and there'll be some more elements of the show, but I'm not sure how much new I'll add. But I'm excited to finally get around to write more about Duncan, I think it's really a great twist, you know with the pills and why he puts them away and how Veronica reacts to the new-old Duncan. (Don't worry, there won't be any V&D in this story, yuck)

Anyways, as usually I'm excited to hear what you're thinking. And just out of curiosity? Any of you on twitter and following me? Cause if there are some, I'll tweet more updates while writing the chapters and maybe some teasers too? :D For my twitter profile check my ff profile ;) My twitter-name's "PlayedByLife".

xoxo


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Ok guys, so here the next chapter finally comes. Sorry for the LOOONG wait. I guess I just suck at being on time. Well, the following lines about LoVe and WeeVer, I've written ages ago and because of the reviews I got for the last chapter. You guys rock, for still sticking with me!

* * *

This is still a LoVe story, not a WeeVer, just for the record, and I reread the last chapter after reading your reviews and while I see what you mean, I think it's natural that there's a seemingly stronger bond between Weevil and Veronica at this point of the story then between her and Logan. Seriously, both, Logan and Veronica are far from being open and honest with each other about their feelings and with all the baggage from the past, all the things that they still need to work out – I couldn't think of a way to have them be as close emotionally as Weevil and Veronica yet, because these two are friends, good friends and in their world that means something.

Weevil became V's friend not long after the rape and the beginning of the "new Veronica" and has therefore also had some influence on how her character developed. I mean, sure she got a lot tougher on her own, but it's different if you're all alone and on your own against the world, or if you befriend the bad boy from the school and get close with him. In my mind, Veronica and Weevil share a really strong friendship, because I think they are very similar in so many ways. But with Weevil being the gang leader of the motor cycle gang, there are also big differences between them, which haven't been that important up to now, because Veronica was an outsider and couldn't be counted to the behated 09ers. But when she and Logan are going to hit it off and she starts getting back to that circle of friends, the issue of changing sides will come up.

So when Veronica is afraid to tell Weevil about Logan, it is because deep down she knows that befriending Logan will put a strain on her friendship with Weevil, something she has to come to appreciate a lot. Add that to the conflicting feelings and the fear of being hurt again and you got one troubled Veronica. Yeah, I just wanted to get that out, you know, not to defend my story (because I really like my story^^), but to give you my view on things, and if you got any suggestions, I'm excited to hear about them, so feel free to leave your thoughts in a review or PM me.

* * *

Chapter 16

"_**We thought we'd be somewhere else  
We started a long time ago  
We thought we'd be anywhere (Oh Oh)  
Don't think that it's over  
I know that world belongs to us  
And it's just the beginning"**_

_**(Just The Beginning – Alexz Johnson)**_

It was lunch time at the Neptune High, the sun was shining down on the quad and Veronica enjoyed the relaxed conversation with her two friends. She hadn't seen Logan since their last conversation two days ago and things with Weevil seemed to be good again. She was happy to catch a break from the drama that had been surrounding her lately. Plus she had decided that she didn't need to know who her real father was, for when she was concerned, Keith Mars was her father not Jake Kane.

"So, let's do something fun this weekend." Wallace suddenly said, causing both Mac and Veronica to stop eating for a second.

"Something 'fun'?" Mac asked while exchanging a look with Veronica, stressing the word "fun" with mock disdain.

"Yeah, fun. The thing most kids of our age have all the time."

"And what shall we do for fun, kid." Veronica asked seriously, still able to suppress the laughter that was building up inside of her. Wallace was fooled by the serious faces of his two friends.

"I don't know, go to a party, maybe."

"You remember what happened the last time you tried to crash a 09er party, right?" Veronica asked, now grinning broadly.

"What? When did you crash a 09er party?" Mac asked curiously.

"I didn't. Veronica's just full of crap today." Wallace answered grumpily, glaring at Veronica who was now laughing openly.

"He…" Veronica had to take a moment to calm down before she could continue. "On his third day here or so, he found one of those leaflets of an 09er party. Wallace here, being the clever boy he is, figured that signs had to stand for something and naively asked the next person walking by what the invitation was saying. Mind you, he could have just asked me, but he wanted to believe in the good in people. Anyways, poor Wally ends up being told the wrong beach and so he gets to a party alright, just that it's a biker party. Still traumatized from being taped to the flagpole on his first day, Wallace makes a run for his money and runs nearly all the way from the beach to my place, scared to death and totally exhausted he arrives and breaks down. Only then he notices the absence of any followers." Veronica laughed fondly at the memory. "He never once looked over his shoulders while running scared."

"But why didn't they follow him if he was already on their shit list?" Mac asked after laughing at Wallace's half embarrassed, half angry expression.

"Well, I had kinda made a deal with Weevil that he'd leave me and Wallace alone for a week. Must have been hard to restrain the boys though, especially since Wallace didn't just stumble into the party but-"

"Isn't it enough now?" Wallace asked, annoyance clear in his voice.

"Alright, alright. I'll save that part of the story for some other time." Veronica said and winked at the disappointed looking Mac.

"Promises, promises…" Mac muttered under her breath, earning another glare from Wallace.

"If you've laughed enough now, could we please get back to the topic here? This weekend, us three, going out?"

"Oh, you mean, like having a 'fun night out'?"

"I heard that's what kids our age usually have all the time." Veronica replied to Mac's question deadpanned.

"Alright, alright, I won't start of it again." Wallace surrendered temporarily, figuring that lunch break was too short to waste time with this kind of conversation. "Since you two can't be serious about anything, what are your exciting plans for the weekend?"

"I was going to try and find how that algorithm to rank-" Mac started but was rudely interrupted by Wallace.

"Something computer-y, I get it. Don't go too wild, will ya? What about you, Ronica?" Wallace turned smugly to Veronica, as if Mac's answer had already proven half of his point.

"I was gonna watch a movie or something." Veronica answered grinning, knowing what Wallace was trying to do. "With my dad."

"Congratulations, you're officially Neptune High's most boring person."

"Did I mention the movie might be PG-13?"

"Oh jump back wild child!"

"What about you, Wallace. Your life still a non-stop Nelly video?"

"Hey, at least I want my life to be a non-stop Nelly video."

"Yeah, you have fun trying to reach that goal this weekend, I'll be busy with some cases. You know, earning money and all that boring grown up crap, nothing for you kid." Veronica told Wallace half serious, half joking. "Hey Mac, would you mind helping me out with this one case…?"

"Sure Veronica, whatever you need. What's gonna be my cut this time?" Mac answered, playing along.

"Hey you could ask me for help too!"

"But you wanted to have a fun night out, forgot that already?" Veronica teased. "Besides, this really isn't anything for teenagers, sorry kiddo. Let the grown ups do the work."

"Look at who's talking!"

"Hey, now don't get insulting." Veronica said good naturedly when the bell ringed. "Now let's go and have some fun that'll write history."

"Fuh-hnny." Wallace said and rolled his eyes but also started packing his things and walked together with his friends to history.

* * *

"Hey V, you wanna go for that ride I still owe ya? We could make it a coast trip." Weevil suggested when he and Veronica exited the school building together. School was out early today and most of the other student were already on their way home. Veronica realized that this was like some kind of peace offering, this trip meant that things were really okay between them again.

"I'd love to." Veronica said with a longing smile. "But I can't."

"Why not?"

"Just gotta take care of something. Been putting it off long enough now." Veronica answered vaguely. She didn't feel like explaining to Weevil that she had spend the last 24 hours thinking about Logan and what she really wanted. She now realized it and made a decision during the last two periods. And this time she'd stick with it and go through with it too, no cowering this time.

"Alright then." Weevil said, looking at his friend curiously. Veronica gave him a small smile and gave him a look, telling him that she wasn't ready to share anything else. "See you around, I guess." Weevil said, deciding to trust her for now, they had agreed that there would be no more lies and he really wanted to trust her again.

"Yeah, you will." Veronica laughed and walked over to her LeBaron.

* * *

When Veronica walked along the Echolls mansion, she felt more than just a bit uncomfortable. It had been so long since she had last walked along this pool that she now felt like a stranger, even though nothing had really changed. It was crazy how her life had changed this much, when around here, everything looked exactly the same.

_And another walk down memory lane…_

Veronice stopped in front of the main house and looked through the glass inside, only to find that everything looked exactly like the last time she had been around here. Back then she had been with Logan and Duncan and Lilly had tagged along too. Of course, the fabulous four had been inseparable.

_Who knew that all it needed was the loss of one to break us all up? Lilly died and we didn't just lose one of our best friends, we lost the other two too. Not just I lost my family but Logan and Duncan too. Well at least I had my dad and Duncan had his parents, but Logan… he'd probably be better off without his._

Veronica shuddered with disgust and anger when she remembered the day she found out what Logan's dad was doing to him. She had always thought Aaron as arrogant and unsympathetic, but he had had a great rep, gave a good image and she had just had this gut feeling he was a fake. Well, she eventually learned the truth. After finding out her bond with Logan had strengthened a lot. She had helped him cover the bruises up and find excuses at school when he couldn't do some things or when he winced in pain because one of the guys had given him a friendly punch to the injured shoulder. Once she had even made up a rumor when the girls in the lockerroom had discussed Logan's "weird preference for longsleeves, even in the summer".

A bitter sweet smile had appeared on Veronica's face while she was completely lost in thought, remembering how special she had felt when she had realized that she was the only one Logan opened up to. She had quickly learned that Lilly knew what was going on too – obviously since she was his girlfriend and they had always been a pretty physical couple. Veronica wasn't sure, but she suspected that Duncan knew about the abuse his friend suffered through too, but he probably rather not talked about it.

_Because that's of course much easier and much much more comfortable for him. Just ignore the problems as long as you possibly can, and hey, why not just break up with your girlfriend without telling her? I'm sure it's a lot easier this way._

_Why am I still thinking about this? I can't still be bitter about Duncan, I barely think about him as it is… Then again, I'm here to make my peace with Logan, so I guess it's only natural I think of Duncan too. If anybody would have told me a year ago that I'd rather rekindle my friendship with Logan than with Duncan, I would have laughed at them. On the other hand I never would have imagined losing them both, not to speak of Lilly._

_Besides, even back then Duncan and I weren't always as close as everyone thought and I would have liked to think._

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_**Veronica had just gotten home from her date with Duncan. He had of course tried to invite her to the monthly family dinner happening in the Kane's house tonight, but Veronica had politely declined – and not for the first time. Duncan kept insisting that his mother didn't hate Veronica, but she had experienced it differently. And after a few attempts at giving Celeste the benefit of the doubt she had decided not to join Duncan on family dinners unless there was a special occasion. **_

_**Walking into the house Veronica quickly noticed that no one was home and therefore checked the answering machine. There was a message from her father, saying that he'd be working late for an important case and another message from her mother, stumbling an excuse like she was a tad drunk while there was women's laughter in the background.**_

_**Letting her purse fall to the floor by the door once she had entered her room, Veronica headed directly for her bed. She laid down on her back and stared at the ceiling after having switched on her music player. She was wondering what she could possibly do with the night.**_

_**She could always call Lilly if she got too bored, her best friend would without a doubt gladly take the excuse to bail on family dinner at the Kanes. But Veronica didn't like being the reason that Lilly had another argument with her parents. She knew that Lilly tried to make everyone think that she didn't give a damn about her parent's opinion of her, but Veronica knew that Lilly did care a lot more than she let on. Veronica couldn't say that she knew how Lilly felt or what she would do in her best friends place, because she had a great and functioning family, she had loving parents, but while Veronica did admire Lilly's guts sometimes, she was also wondering whether the Kane family would be closer if Lilly didn't act out as much. **_

_**For a moment the blonde glanced towards the phone, considering calling Logan after she had dismissed the thought of calling Lilly. But she then shook her head silently; she couldn't call Logan because he was with his parents at some event dinner/concert thingy. He had been cursing about it quite a bit during the week. Thinking of Logan caused Veronica to become a bit worried. If Logan showed any attitude around his father, it could get ugly for him. She hated knowing what her friend had to go through in his own home. Numerous times she had been tempted to say something to her father and ask him for help, but she had always held back, reminding herself of the promise she had given to Logan.**_

_**Before she could come to a decision about how to spend the night, she heard the doorbell ring. Confused about who could possibly be dropping by at this time of the day, Veronica made her way over to the door and glanced through the spyhole. Once she recognized the person on the other side she grinned and opened the door widely.**_

"_**I was just thinking of you!" She said and hugged her friend quickly. "I thought you had something with your parents tonight."**_

"_**Yeah, I skipped that. Wanna watch a movie? I brought popcorn and your favorite ice cream."**_

_**Flashback End**_

* * *

_And of course I did say yes. And of course I had never expected what the evening would end with, not in my wildest dreams. Even now it just seems so crazy – or maybe not as much. I don't know. Back then I didn't know what to make of it, but now I can't help but wonder what might have gone differently if I had acted the other way._

* * *

_**Flashback **_

_**His eyes trailed down from her eyes to her lips and his lips curved into a slight smile when she subconsciously licked her lips that had seemingly gone dry in the intense moment. Veronica slowly attempted to pull her hand back, she had instinctively reached out to touch the long bruise on his cheek, she hadn't realized how awkward it would be for her to do that. But somehow Veronica seemed about as unwilling to lose the contact as he was. So as she started to pull back slowly, more out of responsibility than anything else, Logan's hand suddenly shot up and closed around hers, pressed her fingers that had just glided softly over his bruised skin against his cheek before enclosing her hand in his.**_

_**For a few seconds that seemed like aeons they stayed in that position, relishing silently in the moment and the feelings they brought out in each other. Logan wanted nothing more but to kiss Veronica right now, the thought of Lilly never even entered his mind, but he was too afraid to break the magic of the moment and scare her away. So when Veronica suddenly started to lean in timidly but surely and he saw how her eyes flicked to his lips and back into his eyes, showing a spark that he had never noticed in her, he was surprised to say the least- but in a good way.**_

_**Suddenly music started to fill the room, Lilly's loud voice singing "Walking On Sunshine". Both Logan and Veronica immediately recognized it as Logan's ringtone for Lilly and reality had them back. They both pulled apart quickly, guilt weighing heavily on them.**_

_**They locked eyes for a moment and decided silently that this had been nothing but another one of those almost-moments. The ones they had occasionally but never talked about. The ones they liked to chalk up to simple platonic friendship and a deep sense of connection to each other. **_

_**Both knew how a conversation about those moments would go, both knew why nothing could happen between them. Neither was willing to risk a good thing for whatever was between them. Veronica was meant to be with Duncan, everybody knew that. Just like everybody knew that eventually Logan and Lilly would end up together, no matter how often they broke up and made up again. There was nothing to talk about.**_

_**Flashback End**_

* * *

"Everything okay there?" Aaron Echolls' voice made Veronica jump and effectively put an abrupt stop to her reminiscing. She hadn't heard him coming just like she hadn't realized that she was still standing in front of the main house, staring at the empty parlor.

"Yes, sure, I just… spaced out for a minute, Mister Echolls." Veronica quickly replied, catching herself and trying to hide the shock and fear. Ever since she knew Aaron Echolls creeped her out and him sneaking up on her like this made chills run down her spine. Behind this smile this man was capable of mistreating his son and his wife in the worst ways.

"Didn't I tell you years ago to call me Aaron? The way I remember it you always had some trouble remembering that, isn't that right?" He asked in what was supposed to be a joking manner and laughed loudly.

"You're right, of course, I'm sorry, Aaron." Veronica agreed uneasily.

"So, what are you doing here? I haven't seen you around for quite some time now. We've all missed you here, ever since…" Aaron trailed off , trying to be polite or respectful but it only made Veronica even more uncomfortable. She didn't like to be reminded of Lilly's death, especially not here where so many happy memories of the fabulous four had taken place.

"Yeah, it's been a while. I'm actually looking for Logan, he's still half living in the pool house, I'm guessing?" Veronica asked, trying to sound natural. Logan had too had a room in the main house from what Veronica remembered, but she had only seen it once or twice since Logan usually preferred the pool house.

"You know my son, the farther away he gets from any authority the better. He's always been sort of a wild child, but then you know that probably better than most, don't you? But I'm glad you're coming around again, you've always been a good influence for my son and Lynn and I always liked you."

"Thanks, ehm, Aaron. But Logan's a good guy, really, he-"

"And you're a good friend too, I see." Aaron interrupted her, obviously thinking that she was just protecting her friend. In his eyes Logan could never do anything right. Veronica wondered for a second whether Aaron would ever realize his mistake, but she figured that it wouldn't change a lot even if he did, there were some things one couldn't forgive much less forget. "Well, then I won't keep you any longer. You still know the way, right?"

"Sure, I do. Have a nice afternoon, Mr… Aaron."

"You too Veronica." With that Aaron walked past Veronica and inside the house, leaving a slightly unsettled Veronica behind. She waited until Aaron was out of sight, then walked quickly towards the pool house, wanting nothing more but get away from the big movie star with the many faces.

* * *

To say that Logan was surprised when he saw Veronica waiting in front of his pool house, waving at him through the glass and waiting to be let in, was an understatement. He had done nothing really when he had heard the knock on the door and had exited his bedroom expecting Dick or maybe even his mother. His father would never knock and the rest of his friends wouldn't just show up unannounced right after school while the sun was still up. And as far as he remembered he hadn't ordered that pizza he had been contemplating about earlier yet either.

He hesitantly made his way over to the door and opened it, his eyes locked with Veronica's all the time. His instinct was to let her come in right away, but a part of him was still wary and annoyed with the constant hot and cold thing Veronica had had going on and so he just leaned in the door frame and looked at the tiny blonde expectantly.

"Didn't realize I ordered tiny and blonde this time." He said half jokingly but regretted his words a bit when the half smile fell off Veronica's face and was replaced by a scowl.

"Didn't realize you're only not an ass on uneven days."

"Let me guess, on the uneven days I'm a jerk, right?"

"Right now? Yeah, from where I'm standing, pretty much." Veronica stopped herself suddenly, remembering that this wasn't what she came here for. It seemed like bickering was a bad habit for her and Logan nowadays. "This is stupid. Are you gonna let me in or not?" She asked impatiently, usually she enjoyed their banter but today she was nervous and scared that she might lose the courage to say what she came here for. She saw the surprise flicker over Logan's face and was glad when he didn't come back with some stupid comment and just opened the door.

"All you had to do was ask nicely and maybe add a please, but sure, come on in, tiny rude one." Logan replied, his smirk turning into more of a smile. He knew the signs of one nervous Veronica Mars and he enjoyed seeing something other than the tough front she usually put up.

_Cheered too soon, I guess. Logan and no come back? Just doesn't work this way…_

"Thanks." Veronica said sarcastically but didn't suppress the smile that came to her face at Logan's suddenly more playful answer. Logan's wit was so much more enjoyable when he didn't use it to hurt or humiliate her.

"I like what you've done with the place." Veronica said jokingly while taking a look around. The place hadn't changed too much from the last time she saw it, but it was a complete mess, that wasn't like the Logan she knew at all. Logan's place had only ever been messy when he had been in a bad place emotionally, for example when he and Lilly had been off –again.

"Yeah, it's a bit messy, our cleaning lady's on vacation or something."

"Right." Veronica said, not completely buying his excuse, but she figured that it wasn't the time to press him to explain what was going on. "So, I didn't really see you in school and I wanted to talk to you."

"Yeah, you obviously had to figure some stuff out and I figured since absence makes the heart grow founder…"

"You'd just skip school for a couple of days in order to give me space? Yeah, not really buying that one." She smiled at him, showing that she wasn't out for a confrontation, that she just genuinely wanted to know what the matter was. "What's going on? Did Aaron…" Veronica trailed off, not knowing how to ask Logan whether or not his father had beaten him again.

"Nope, this has nothing to do with my father." Logan answered shortly, while he didn't deny that something was bothering him, he made it clear that he didn't want to discuss it right now. "But I assume that you came here not just purely out of concern over my attention record at school."

"No I wanted to talk to you."

"Then, by all means, go ahead. I'm listening." Logan said and fell back into the couch, leaving Veronica the only one standing. She looked around and finally pulled up a chair and sat down facing Logan, the backside of the stool towards Logan so that she could use the backrest to lean on with.

"I know what I want now." Veronica finally said after a few seconds. Logan had closed his eyes by now and leaned back. His lack of reaction to her words annoyed Veronica more than she could say. This was a big step for her. And he should know that. Probably that annoyance was one of the reasons that the next words left her mouth even though her head screamed "no". "I want you."

Logan's eyes sprang open at her last words. His gaze met hers and his eyes showed surprise but also an unknown intensity. His look made Veronica feel stripped of her defences, she hadn't planned on being so straight with him. She hadn't even fully accepted the fact that she wanted him not just back in her life but that she still wanted him like she used to before Lilly's death had changed everything. Everything she had felt towards him hadn't disappeared, it had just been forced in the very back of her mind and she had blocked those feelings out until she had felt like they didn't exist anymore. But with Logan's attempts to earn her forgiveness and his little speeches those feelings had come back out more and more until she couldn't suppress them any longer. When she had thought about it the last nights she had realized that she couldn't and wouldn't hide from them any longer. Not for her friends and not for her pride. Not if she had the chance of getting her Logan back.

Before she could react, Logan had gotten up and was in front of her and a split second later she felt his lips touch hers. All reason went out of her head and her body reacted to the sensation. After the initial shock was overcome she opened her mouth and kissed him back, welcoming his tongue and the touch of his hands on her body. Neither of them noticed how she got up from the chair she had been sitting on and how they ended up with Veronica sandwiched in-between Logan and the wall.

The attraction between them had always been there, from the first moment on that Logan had laid eyes on her. But they had never acted on their feelings, always blocking them out, acting as if friendship was all they shared for their boyfriend and girlfriend's sake. Neither of them had been willing to risk breaking up the fabulous four by trying it together. Truth be told, back then they might have made a good couple, but now that Veronica wasn't as shy anymore and Logan had gotten a bit less wild, they were a perfect match – if it wasn't for their social standings.

All the pent up frustration and the feelings that hadn't been acted on, the hurt they had inflicted on each other since Lilly's death, all the pretending and denying of their true feelings – the joy of finally giving in to their feelings made them forget everything else that had still mattered only minutes ago.

Only when Veronica's shirt had ridden up a bit and Logan's hands touched her bare skin, Veronica suddenly realized what they were doing and where they were heading. She broke the kiss and with the much needed breath of air she was able to think again. Logan sensed the change in her mood and too realized that they were going too far too fast and therefore released her quickly, taking a step back, waiting for her to react.

He couldn't help the smile forming on his face though. He had long since realized that he liked Veronica, he had been the first of the two to realize that there was something years ago and he had been the first now too. He just couldn't believe that they were finally on the same page. Earlier when she had said that she now knew what she wanted, he had been half mentally preparing himself for a rejection – after all he had promised her foolishly to leave her alone if she wanted that. He had had a hard time realizing that he wanted to be her friend again, but along with that realization the feelings he had always had for her had come rushing back. When she had then told him that she _wanted_ _him_ he hadn't been able to resist the temptation. She had been there in his room, looking at him, her walls had crumbled and left her vulnerable but also with that quiet determination he used to admire her for. Veronica had always known what she wanted, had always stood behind her actions and behind her words. He just hoped that he hadn't screwed anything up by his actions just now, but she had kissed him back, so it couldn't be too bad, right?

"I… uhm… that was…" Veronica started, still trying to compose herself, not really sure what she wanted to say in the first place.

"Yeah." Logan replied still smiling. But instead of smiling back Veronica sighed and his smile started to fade at her reaction.

"I… This is going too fast for me." She finally managed, feeling that the words were wrong with her heart but oh so right with her head. "I meant what I said, but… could we take it slow? See where this goes before we jump?" She quickly added when she saw how disappointed and sad Logan looked. He tried to cover it up, but she could read him too well. She had always been able to read him well and she didn't like hurting him now, but she just knew that changing things too quickly would end up in a disaster.

"Okay." Logan said, but Veronica had a feeling like it wasn't okay for him at all. "We'll take it slow. Keep it quiet. For now?" He asked that last part half as a question half as a statement.

"Just for now." Veronica assured him and smiled up at him before she enveloped him in a tight embrace. She couldn't have been more happy in this moment, feeling Logan hug her back, knowing that she was getting her Logan back. Her rock, her best friend. Aside from all the feelings she had for him that reached deeper than simple friendship, first and foremost he had always been her best friend, whom she had trusted completely. It was what she had missed the most and now she had not only the chance to get that back, but to even make more of it.

She remembered the flashback she had had earlier. To her it seemed like she and Logan had always somehow been drawn together, first as friends and then as something more. Even when they had wanted nothing more but to simply be friends, they had always had something more, even though they had constantly denied it. And now after everything that had happened, here they were again, finally willing to give "them" a shot.

_Drawn together – and not pulling away… not anymore at least._

* * *

So, the whole "drawn together- and not pulling away" part might seem familiar to you if you've been following The Vampire Diaries... THere have been a few posters of Damon and Elena with this line when Season 1 ended...

_Before you either hit the review button (hint hint) or click this page away, I was just wondering, any of you awesome readers living in the State New York? Cause I'm currently visiting relatives on Long Island and I'm having the time of my life here :D Saw NYC, just to mention one highlight :D_

_Love you all!  
_


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